What kind of future will the “all-weather” China Pakistan iron core friendship bring to the development of China Pakistan Economic Corridor?

With the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor has continuously reached a new level. Recently, China and Pakistan have once again emphasized the development concept of taking the China Pakistan Economic Corridor as the “starting point” to promote the economic development of China and Pakistan.

On April 14, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners and “iron brothers” worthy of the name. China is willing to work with the new Pakistani government to build a China Pakistan Economic Corridor with the goal of higher standards, sustainability and benefiting people’s livelihood, and accelerate the construction of a closer China Pakistan community of shared future in the new era.

One belt, one road and one landmark project, is an important manifestation of the continuous upgrading of the “iron tie” between the two countries. On April 11, when the new Prime Minister of Pakistan, shabaz Sharif, delivered a victory speech, he specifically mentioned China Pakistan Relations and said that he would vigorously promote the construction of China Pakistan Economic Corridor. The next day, when meeting with Pang Chunxue, charg é d’affaires A.I. of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, he spoke highly of China Pakistan Relations and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and said that he would work with China to deepen Pakistan China cooperation and upgrade bilateral relations to a higher level.

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor with a total length of more than 3000 kilometers is like a link, connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt in the north and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road in the south. While building a “bridge” for economic and trade exchanges between China and Pakistan, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor is also constantly enriching the connotation of the China Pakistan community of shared future.

Since the start of construction in 2013, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor has created “miracles” one after another: the China Pakistan cross-border optical cable, the Karakoram Highway upgrading project, the karot hydropower station, the Lahore rail transit orange line project, the Suji ginari hydropower station project, and the second phase closure of the dam. The resulting changes are obvious. Khalid Mansour, special assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan for China Pakistan Economic Corridor affairs, once said, “the construction of China Pakistan Economic Corridor has turned Pakistan from a power shortage country to a power surplus country, met Pakistan’s energy demand, and reduced Pakistan’s power production cost and overall electricity price.”

At present, the construction of China Pakistan Economic Corridor has entered a new stage of high-quality development. In this regard, Tang Mengsheng, director of Pakistan research center of Peking University, told the 21st Century Business Herald that the construction of China Pakistan Economic Corridor keeps pace with the times and will provide more impetus and support to help Pakistan enhance its independent economic development.

Fruitful corridor construction

With the gradual deepening of the construction of China Pakistan Economic Corridor, the projects of China Pakistan cooperation also seek multi field and multi-directional layout.

Speaking of the development of China Pakistan Economic Corridor, I have to mention several key development nodes: in 2013, China Pakistan economic corridor was officially proposed and positioned as a “four in one” channel and Trade Corridor covering roads, railways, oil and gas pipelines and optical cables; In 2015, a “1 + 4” cooperation layout centered on corridor construction and focusing on Gwadar Port, energy, infrastructure and industrial cooperation was formed, and the long-term plan of China Pakistan economic corridor was preliminarily formulated; China’s one belt, one road initiative and Pakistan’s vision 2025 were officially launched in December 2017, and the development of China’s economic corridor (2017-2030 years) was focused on the interconnection, energy, economic and trade and industrial parks.

According to the blueprint of the plan, the construction project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor is carried out in an orderly manner. In the past nine years, construction projects related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor have sprung up.

By September 2021, 22 priority projects in the first phase of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor have been basically completed, half of which belong to energy projects. For example, Qasim port coal-fired power station has accounted for about 10% of the power supply of Pakistan’s national grid since it entered commercial operation in April 2018. It is reported that the power generation of the coal-fired power station exceeded 4.6 billion kwh in 2021.

While accelerating the construction as a power supply base, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor also attaches great importance to the development of clean energy. In November 2021, karot hydropower station, the first hydropower investment project in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, successfully completed the gate lowering of the diversion tunnel and officially started the reservoir storage, laying the foundation for the water commissioning of subsequent generator units. It is reported that the construction of karot hydropower station and Suji ginari hydropower station is progressing smoothly, and the construction of Kohala hydropower station project will begin after the signing of the franchise agreement in May 2021.

Over the past nine years, China Pakistan cooperation in the field of energy has made rapid progress, which has greatly alleviated the development bottleneck of local power shortage in Pakistan. Both sides have also focused on the development of clean energy, which has brought many new ideas, technologies and investments.

“In modern society, everything is inseparable from electricity. With electricity, hotels and shopping malls can be opened, industries can operate, and it is conducive to the development of Commerce and tourism.” Song Zhihui, vice president of the school of international relations of Sichuan University and director of the Pakistan research center of Sichuan University, told the 21st Century Business Herald that he clearly felt the great impetus brought by the construction of energy projects to the Pakistani economy.

Tang Mengsheng also told reporters that energy shortage is an “old and difficult” problem restricting Pakistan’s economic development, and it is also the problem that several Pakistani governments attach most importance to and want to solve most.

According to the Research Report of PWC in 2012, the power gap caused an average annual GDP loss of US $13.5 billion in Pakistan. The short supply of electricity has led to a long-term power shortage in Pakistan, with power cuts in various regions of the country in turn. The power cuts last about 10 hours a day in big cities and 22 hours in rural areas. The national average power gap is 4000 megawatts.

Since the construction of China Pakistan Economic Corridor, the power shortage in Pakistan has been greatly alleviated. According to the data of Pakistan China Pakistan Economic Corridor Affairs Bureau, as of January 2022, the total capacity of energy projects completed under the framework of China Pakistan Economic Corridor reached 5.32 million KW. Khalid Mansour once said that these power production capacity provided a large number of residential and industrial electricity, enabling Pakistan to get rid of the plight of long-term blackouts.

In the first phase of construction, China and Pakistan not only strive to improve the problem of energy shortage, but also focus on infrastructure