China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

April 8, 2021

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China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a massive bilateral project to improve infrastructure within Pakistan for better trade with China and to further integrate the countries of the region. The project was launched on April 20th ,2015 when the Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif signed 51 agreements and Memorandums of Understanding valued at $46 billion. The goal of CPEC is both to transform Pakistan’s economy—by modernizing its road, rail, air, and energy transportation systems—and to connect the deep-sea Pakistani ports of Gwadar and Karachi to China’s Xinjiang province and beyond by overland routes. (Xinjiang borders the countries of Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, and the ancient Silk Road ran through its territory.) This would reduce the time and cost of transporting goods and energy such as natural gas to China by circumventing the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. The announcement of joint space and satellite initiatives between Pakistan and China, spurred by CPEC, followed in CPEC is part of the larger Belt and Road Initiative—to improve connectivity, trade, communication, and cooperation between the countries of Eurasia—announced by China in CPEC has been compared to the Marshall Plan for the rebuilding of post-World War II Europe in its potential impact on the region, and numerous countries have shown interest in participating in the initiative. What difference will CPEC create in shaping the economy of Pakistan?

CPEC related jobs will generate 2.32 lakh jobs for the Pakistani people reducing the rate of unemployment from 5.9% to 3.3%.

China had over $1,500 per capita income only 13 year ago – a level Pakistan achieved last year. This means Pakistan is 13 years Behind China and can catch up.

CPEC long term plan (2017 – 2030) is divided into three phases that will be effective till 2030. (Government of Pakistan)

91% of the income from Gwadar Port goes to the Chinese while Gwadar Port Authority would get 9% of the income.

Access to electricity for the rural population increased from 90.3% in 2015 and 98.8 in 2016.

Over the next decades, 10 countries are expected to add 4.3 trillion dollars to global GDP. That’s the equivalent of adding another Japan to the Country

Keywords:Indo-Pacific region, Defence Cooperation, Sino-American Trade War, South China Sea, Indian Ocean Region, UNCLOS, etc.

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Utkarsha Mahajan

Utkarsha Mahajan is a Doctoral candidate at the Department of geopolitics and international relations, Manipal academy of higher education. Previously she has completed her Post graduation (M.A.) in Politics and Bachelor of Engineering in electronics and telecommunication from University of Mumbai along with two PG Diplomas in International and Security Studies. Her area of research includes geopolitics of Outer space and Cyber space, Indo-pacific and South Asia. She has published a number of articles on outer space and indo-pacific with Center for land and warfare studies (CLAWS) and Forum for integrated national security (FINS).

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