Chinese leaders, both of the past and present era, have always been a source of inspiration and motivation. It is, by now, a well proven fact that the ideals of ‘shared prosperity’ and ‘win-win strategy’ vigorously pursued by President XiJinping, have gained quite a popularity among countries outside China that include countries of the West.

Just a few days ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed in a phone conversation to join hands to upholdmultilateralism and tackle global challenges. Xi told Macron that China was wholeheartedly committed to its globalvision of working together with the peoples around the world,including the French people, in order to build up a community with ashared future for mankind.

The government of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan take pride intheir time-tested friendship which is defined by the Chinese people as‘Iron Brother friendship'. The people of China call Pakistanis as iron brothers.This iron brother relationship has also materialized into solid projects with the wholehearted cooperation of PRC under the umbrellaof China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is one of the prime mega projects of international connectivity and growth envisioned and launched by China, without any unjust conditions.

Yes, it is a fact that, in the area of international relations, especially traderelations, China is altogether different and far more considerate in its business transactions with other countries.

Pakistan has already gained a lot in the energy and infrastructure sectors with the commissioning of projects like Sahiwal coal power plant in collaboration with Huaneng Corporation of China. Around 20 billion US dollars have already been invested in the CPEC energyprojects of Pakistan in response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The total CPEC package exceeds 60 billion US dollars.

Besides the Sahiwal power plant, China has helped Pakistan in establishing some other power projects, including the Haveli Bahadur Shah, Port Qasim, Balloki and Bhikki plants on a fast-track basis,somewhat ahead of the set deadlines.

Under the CPEC, which has now been put on a yet faster track of completion and meeting of deadlines following a fresh understanding between the governments of Pakistan and China, special economic zones are getting top priority attention. These zones are going to providejobs to hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis besides improving the economic environment of neglected areas of the country.

After the official announcement of CPEC, around 37 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were proposed in all the provinces of Pakistan. Out ofthese, nine SEZs have been placed on top priority to be established in different areas of Pakistan. One such project is Rashakai Zone. Another one is Dhabeji SpecialEconomic Zone. As for the Dhabeji Zone, the Government of Sindh province in Pakistan has earmarked 1530 acres of land for this Zone. The location willprovide easy access to Port Qasim enabling quick raw material importas well as finished goods’ export. It will also provide easy access to Karachi Airport via National Highway enabling safe travel of foreign workers and management personnel. Dhabeji Zone is also going to havedirect access to the National Highway which will facilitate the transportation of goods to upcountry and Central Asian states.

China is also moving quite rapidly on the development of Gwadar deep seaport as well as itsairport. Gwadar, as is well known, is going to be a very big deep seaport that finds its place in the list of some biggest deep seaportsof the world. Work on Gwadar airport and Coastal Highway are alsogoing on well.

Emphasis is being laid on Joint Ventures among Pakistani and Chinese companies with top priority being given to export-oriented industries.The sectors identified, so far, for investment in this Zone are: Steel foundries, Automotive and Auto parts, chemicals and pharmaceuticals,consumer electronics engineering, textiles and garment, warehousing, building material and FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods).

Talking a little bit more about Sahiwal coal plant, the 1.6 billion dollar project was completed much before the set deadline. As such, it is called a miracle in the history of power generation in Pakistan. It is a Joint Venture (JV) of Coal Huaneng Shandong Power Generation company. 

During this writer’s recent visit to Huaneng Company officein China, the visiting journalists from Pakistan were informed that the plant comprised two super critical, coal-fired generating units of 660 megawatts each and that it was a high efficiency, clean coal project of Huaneng company in response to Belt and Road Initiative. CPEC is deemed to be one of the prime corridors out of total six BRI corridors. This plant is meeting the energy demands of around 10million Pakistanis, as per the official figures released by the Company. The Chinese company has also given full attention to ensuring clean environment in the area by setting the target of planting at least15,000 trees over there. 

In infrastructure, Gwadar Port, Coastal Highway, Gwadar Airport andother expressways find a prominent place in the list of CPEC priorities. One of these infrastructure projects is Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M-5) which has become operational from November 8, 2019. The inauguration ceremony was held after the Joint Coordination Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) held its 9th session inPakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The 329-kilometre, six-lane M-5 hasreduced the travel time from Multan to Sukkur to three hours and 15 minutes from eight hours on this very important national highway,connecting major cities of the country. China State Engineering Company executed this vital CPEC project.