China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) | Updates & Discussions

[Banglar Bir]

Kindly note this is not my view, rather an article published in SAM
CPEC envisages Sino-Pak security mechanism with country-wide surveillance
P K Balachandran, May 17, 2017

Chinese soldiers parade in Islamabad on Pakistan’s Republic Day on March 23 this year
A joint security mechanism against terrorism, including a pervasive country-wide surveillance system, is a key feature of the agreement between China and Pakistan on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn reported in an exclusive piece on Monday.

The document says that the two countries will “jointly prevent and crack down on terrorist acts that endanger the safety of Chinese overseas enterprises and their staff.”

It notes that the security situation in Pakistan has deteriorated.

The Chinese would install a modern surveillance system (in which they have mastery), not just along the corridor but in all Pakistani cities.

But Dawn wondered who will man this surveillance system and what kind of signals the system would be looking for.

However, given the close military ties between Pakistan and China, such a joint security arrangement is considered to be a natural outcome.

On Pakistan’s Republic Day on March 23 this year, Chinese military personnel took part in the ceremonial parade for the first time in the history of Sino-Pakistan relations.

The CEPC is a humongous US$ 50 billion project which covers the whole of Pakistan from North to South and from East to West. And the projects included in it are multifarious, spanning agriculture, industry, transport, roads, railways, mining and even leisure tourism with plans for beach resort development with all kinds of entertainment made available.

Given the scale of the operations, the Chinese are to get visa free entry into Pakistan. With a radio and TV broadcast component included in it, the agreement says that the media will be used to spread Chinese culture and language to promote better understanding between the Pakistanis and the Chinese.

The document says that for Chinese enterprises and Sino-Pak joint ventures to function satisfactory, the legal and other frameworks should be made suitable to them. Chinese enterprises should be allowed direct access to the top echelons in the Pakistan national and provincial governments to smooth rough edges or settle disputes.

Contrary to expectations, agriculture has been given pride of place and not industry. Food production, processing, transportation and marketing will be opened to the Chinese who will bring the relevant modern technology, knowhow and funds.

The food produced will be sold both locally and exported principally to the Kashgar region of Xinkiang where 50% of the population is poor. Chinese enterprises in Pakistan will use Kashgari labor, apart from locals. The yarn woven in Chinese factories in Pakistan will be sent to Kashgar to sustain the textile industry there.

Chinese enterprises will exploit the granite and marble deposits in Western Pakistan and set up steel and petrochemical industries in the hinterland of the newly constructed Gwadar port in Balochistan.

Punjab, with its rich agricultural tradition, will be made into a huge granary with Chinese companies engaging in food production, processing, preservation and transportation.

As for the financing of the proposed projects, while China will contribute the bulk of it, funds would be sought from international institutions. Joint ventures will have to be partly funded by Pakistani government institutions. Pakistan will also give financial assistance in the form of tax concessions and other incentives.

Given the weak Pakistani rupee vis-a-vis the US dollar, the dealings will also be in the Chinese currency RMB. According to Dawn this will be Beijing’s way of internationalizing the RMB.

Commenting on the deal as a whole, Dawn says: “The flood gates are about to open. The CPEC is only the opening. What comes through when the door has been opened is difficult to forecast.”

http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/0...security-mechanism-country-wide-surveillance/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Why kicking itself out of OBOR was important for India?
Salman Rafi, May 21, 2017

Image Credit: Satish Acharya/ Oneindia.com

While India stopped short of attending the last week held summit of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in China, otherwise known as ‘One Belt One Road’ vision, the decision should not be confused with, despite India’s allusions to the violation of its territory and sovereignty, the possibility of India potentially rejecting the BRI. As a matter of fact, despite being absent at the Summit, India is still very much a part of BRI through the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM), a corridor which is not only closely related to BRI, but is very much in line, qualitatively speaking, with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The idea of BCIM has been flourishing since at least 2013 and it was only in the last month of April, during a meeting held in Calcutta, India, that China emphasised the need to raise co-operation to intergovernmental level.

While the programme is still on early stage of negotiations, India’s visible presence and willingness to co-operate with China does show that India’s absence from BRI summit is neither rooted in some well thought out regional policy, nor is it a part of long-term strategy vis-à-vis China.

Hence, the question: why was it important for India to kick itself out of the BRI summit?

An answer to this question cannot be simply attributed to the CPEC-factor, which is by far only one of the many projects being completed under BRI.

A more plausible explanation of India’s seemingly errant policy can be found in its bi-lateral relations with China and how its huge trade deficit is driving its policy makers to a direction that may cause, as some Indian papers have suggested in the cover-up to Indian absence at the summit, India to fall a prey to self-inflicted economic isolation.

The trade-deficit concerns were, yet again, a visible part of the report India submitted during the April meeting of BCIM and its officials were not unmindful of the possibility of regional balance of power tilting further to China’s favour in the years to come, particularly once the BRI kicks off with a bang.

While a number of people, both scholars and analysts, have expressed such concerns in Pakistan too, it seems that Pakistan, being a relatively smaller country, sees more benefit than harm in appropriating the billion-dollar project to ease many of its own big problems, particularly its energy crisis.

India, being a much bigger economy than Pakistan and following its ambitious dream of big regional-power status, cannot geo-politically afford to allow the trade deficit to grow unboundedly, or even allow China an easy access to the regional markets at the expense of India’s own trade.

Hence, India’s cautious moves. All India is appearing to achieve is to institutionalize the ways and means of reducing bi-lateral deficits as a mean to secure for itself a bigger role in the region. Perhaps this was precisely what the India official had in mind during the April-meeting of BCIM where he stated:

“…Even as we explore greater connectivity between BCIM countries, we should be mindful of different domestic circumstances and developmental aspirations in our respective countries. While forging ahead on our respective developmental paths our four countries [are] at present at different level of developments and this should be an important consideration while we engage in mutually beneficial areas for cooperation,”

The development disparity, which is fundamentally expressed through trade imbalance, is self-evident here. And again, at the heart of a member of the ruling party’s statement is the fear, real or imagined, of Chinese domination. He was quoted as saying, “the project will only serve China’s economic interests by supporting its steel and cement industries currently bedevilled by overcapacity.”

There is no gain saying that their bi-lateral trade deficit is huge. As of 2016, the trade-deficit stood at US$46.56 billion as the Indian exports continued to decline while the bilateral trade marginally slowed down by 2.1 per cent to nearly $71 billion. Trade figures prepared by General Administration of Customs show that China exports totalled to $58.33 billion, registering an increase of 0.2 per cent compared to $58.25 billion in 2015.

India exports to China have progressively declined during last few years. In 2014, India exports stood at US$16.4 billion. In 2015, exports dropped to US$13.38 billion, and in 2015, it further dropped to US$12.46 billion, contributing directly to Indian concerns about an overwhelming Chinese ingress in the Indian markets if India decided to partake in BRI without mechanisms put in it to ensure that the deficit wouldn’t get widened in the future.

Although this trade deficit is a function of the commodities India exports to, namely cotton, gems and precious metals, copper and iron ore, and imports from China, namely manufactured capital goods mainly for the power and telecom sectors, Indian officials doubt that an un-restricted participation in BRI and sub-regional groupings such as BICM would only add to the imbalance as they are themselves aspiring to establish an industrial base and seek high growth rates through exports to the neighbouring countries.

As such, what the India officials seem to be preoccupied with is the question of how to manage integration with China and, at the same time, ensure that India’s own exports to neighbouring countries don’t suffer a downgrade.

The only way available to India is to restrict the extent to which China can find place at the regional and sub-regional level. India’s rejection of BRI-summit invitation is a manifestation of this very policy, a policy that nonetheless stands little chance of meaningful success in the wake of an overwhelming majority of the countries willing to jump on the Chinese bandwagon.

This was pretty evident even during the last BCIM meeting where both Bangladesh and Myanmar were seen adopting a different position from that of India.

Salman Rafi Sheikh is an independent journalist based in Pakistan. His areas of interest include politics of terrorism, global war on terror, ethno-national conflicts, foreign policies of major powers, application and consequences.
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/05/21/kicking-obor-important-india/

 

[JSCh]

Fresh from Gwadar Port: Landlocked Xinjiang feasts on fresh deep-sea fish
(People's Daily Online) 14:34, May 22, 2017

Seafood flown in from Gwadar Port debuts at a seafood exposition in Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

More than 2 tons of seafood straight from the Indian Ocean hit dining tables around Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China's furthest inland region, on May 20. The seafood was incredibly fresh, as only 34 hours elapsed between the time it was caught in Pakistan's Gwadar Port to its arrival Xinjiang by air.

The 16 varieties of fish--including lobsters and red and black groupers---parachuted in as part of a seafood exposition in the city of Karamay, coordinated by a Xinjiang fishing company that invested 510 million RMB in the Gwadar Special Economic Zone, built in cooperation with China.

“Gwadar’s quarantine and customs departments offered a fast channel for the seafood,” explained Ma Jinglu, a manager at Xinjiang Yufei International Fishing Company. He also said the a direct rail and sea freight service from Gwadar to Xinjiang’s capital city of Urumqi started service in April 2016, and those routes have greatly facilitated the transportation of his company’s products.

In 2015, it was announced that Gwadar would be developed as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for a cost of $1.62 billion, with the aim of linking northern Pakistan and western China to the deep-water port. Construction on the Gwadar Special Economic Zone began in June 2016. It is being built on a 2,292-acre site adjacent to Gwadar's port.

The Gwadar Port is a flagship CPEC project under the Belt and Road Initiative. Nadeem Javaid, who advises Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government and works closely on the CPEC program, said the Gwadar-Xinjiang corridor should be operational from June of next year, and Pakistan expects up to 4 percent of global trade to pass through the corridor by 2020, Reuters reported.

 

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Trade delegation to explore business opportunities across CPEC route to Kashgar
Source : Pakistan Observer Date : 24-05-2017 By : Salim Ahmed




Trade delegation to explore business opportunities across CPEC route to Kashgar


A trade delegation for study tour of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route to Kashgar is being planned to depart from Lahore on 15th July. Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) and Custom Syndicate have gathered interest from Pakistani businessmen for arranging the study tour, and will be highlighting potential businesses along the route. The route constitutes the definitive link between Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Route which are part of the Belt & Road, and will be integrating Pakistan into the global economy. Identification of small businesses along the routes will help induce CPEC's prosperity at the grassroots and create employment opportunities for the local labour.

Lahore: Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) and Custom Syndicate are jointly organizing a high profile trade delegation and study tour to Kashgar-China by road. The delegation will depart Lahore to Kashgar on 15th July 2017.

The purpose of the delegation is to study the facilities available and opportunities of connecting markets in Western China. This tour will be covering the major cities like Gilgit, Sust (Pak border), Tashkurgan County (China border) and Kashgar city.

The delegates will get the opportunity to discuss the business and trade prospects, exchange information and relish the melodious culture of Kashgar, Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China.

President PCJCCI Wang Zihai informed that the tour will assist business leaders from a diverse group of companies to select locations for investment and market development. The delegation is aimed to link business leaders, researchers and investors of both countries, he added. The tour will enable investors to identify potential organizations to partner and developing successful regional economic strategies and support regionally vital businesses, he added.

Wang Zihai identified that the Multi Billion Dollar’s CPEC project starts from Kashgar and on other side ends at Gwadar thus cover whole Pakistan. He said that the Lahore being in the center of CPEC routes acts as a major node that is open to the opportunities to attract Chinese businessmen and investors.

According to him, China is focused to invest in Pakistan’s energy, construction, logistics, education and infrastructure sectors under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor project. China has a vision of connectivity by road and sea routes with different economies and regions of the world; China has initiated “One Belt One Road” program and seeking to invest in different countries to increase trade and social relations.

Muhammad Anwar, CEO Custom Syndicate told that this high-level trade delegation and CPEC route study tour to Kashgar-China will enable the relevant stakeholders understand how to do business with Chinese; what business environments are; what opportunities are available; what are the infrastructure needs and what sort of socio-economic relations need to be developed? He informed that Interaction with business organizations from the Public and Private sectors of China will open vistas of opportunities for delegates that will ultimately boost cross-border business and trade collaboration.

 

[Rashid Mahmood]

 

[CHD]

View attachment 399130

is it a coincidence, that the Star is bending through Punjab?

 

[Rocky rock]

is it a coincidence, that the Star is bending through Punjab?

No it's fact it's moving through Kashmir to China.
keray nikalny wali qoum.

 

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Completion of CPEC early harvest project would lead to sustainable dev in Pakistan
05/26/2017 | 12:52pm


A number of early harvest projects of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), completing this year, would open up the way for sustainable economic growth and development of Pakistan.

This was stated by Hassaan Daud, Project Director, China Pakistan Economic Corridor, while speaking at a seminar on 'CPEC Threats and Opportunities' at National Management Institute, Karachi on Wednesday.

Leading political figures, known economists and academia participated in the seminar, a statement received here said.

Project Director CPEC said that a number of projects in energy and transport infrastructure sectors were expected to be completed in the year 2017-18.

'CPEC energy projects would add around 6000MW electricity in the early harvest phase, thus would remove a main bottleneck from Pakistan's economy' he said.

He further added that transport infrastructure projects would develop remote areas of the country, bringing them at par with other developed centers.

Completion of western route, in early harvest phase, would connect Gwadar to Khunjrab, opening up lesser developed areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, he added.

He said that Pakistan and China were entering into the phase of Industrial Cooperation, whereas 9 special economic zones would be established.

Pakistan's Board of Investment was finalizing the plan and package for developing these zones to ensure maximum investment, he added.

He further informed that Chinese experts team iwas expected to arrive this month to provide guidelines on development of special economic zones.

While answering questions, Hassan Daud said that CPEC will not result any adverse impact on local culture or our way of life.

The convergence of different cultures under CPEC would help in bringing harmony and promoting exchanges of good values among the people of Asia It will support in sharing best experiences, ensuring capacity enhancement thus resulting in sustainable economic growth.

He further said that CPEC had brought national consensus and all the provincial government were working hard to accrue maximum benefits of this multi-billion dollar project.

He rejected the reports that government was introducing free visa policy for Chinese citizen.

'No such proposal is under discussion', he emphasized.

Regarding Gwadar projects, he mentioned that this year would witness speedy implementation of Gwadar Eastbay Expressway, Airport and City Master Plan projects.

He further said that Belt and Road Initiative would bring enormous opportunities for Pakistan, highlighted as a country which has most projects under implementation.

(c) 2017 Pakistan Observer. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info)., source Middle East & North African Newspapers

 

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Pakistani, Chinese workers hired in CPEC projects
24

Gwadar Port being equipped with huge warehouse, exhibition

Amanullah Khan

Karachi

Brushing aside the perception that only Chinese workers are engaged in CPEC projects, Wang Dong Director General of Linyi Trade City has said that they are already working in Gwadar on a project where they have built an Exhibition Center of 6000 sq. m and a Warehouse of 140,000 sq. m.

Wang Dong, leading a high powered Chinese Delegation said this during the visit of Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Karachi.

He disclosed that the project at Gwadar Port is towards completion and the workforce includes Chinese and Pakistani men, and perception spread that only Chinese have been hired by Chinese companies working on CPEC projects and in Gwadar is a devoid of truth.

Mr. Wang Dong showed his interest in signing MoU with FPCCI for mutual cooperation in Trade, Investment and increasing import and export between the countries. He also invited the Pakistani businessmen to participate in China (Linyi) International Trade and Logistics Fair (CLITLF) being organized from 23-25 Sep. 2017.

Chinese leader said that Pakistani products would be in high demand in Chinese markets and also emphasized that Pakistan must work on non-traditional commodities to trade and export. This exhibition and Linyi Trade city offers enormous opportunities as thousands of buyers from around the world shall be attending this fair and it could be a window of opportunity for Pakistani products to export not only to China but to take orders from other countries, Dong added.
Mr. Wang Dong thanked the President FPCCI Mr. Zubair F. Tufail for the warm welcome that he received and said that China Pakistan friendship is eternal, and it is beyond economic and trade cooperation.

Explaining the role of his organization and importance of Linyi city he said that it is a city in Shangdong province and it’s a new Business hub in Southeast of China, the city is also called capital of logistics and has number of Exhibition Centers, Warehouses, Retail parks, Whole sale markets, Manufacturing plants and thousands of companies from China and rest of the world are already operating and taking their share.
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Mr. Zubair F. Tufail has agreed to visit Linyi Trade City China in July this year along with a delegation from Pakistan and its participation in the Trade Fair in September 2017. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Zahid Umer, Chairman Pak-China Business Council (PCBC), Mr. Zafar Saeed, and Former Chairman PCBC Mr. Jawed Khalili.
Saqib Fayyaz Magoon, Vice President FPCCI and members of Pakistan China Business Council of FPCCI welcomed the delegation.

 

[grey boy 2]

China-built energy plant inaugurates to benefit 10 million Pakistani people
By Wu Chengliang (People's Daily Online) 14:18, June 01, 2017

(File photo/provided to People's Daily)

The first major power plant under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has started to generate electricity for Pakistani people and will meet power demand of 10 million locals.

The first unit of the Sahiwal Coal-Fired Power Project was inaugurated on May 25. The unit will generate 660-megawatts of electricity to Pakistan’s national grid and will help relieve energy shortage in the country. The second unit is expected to be started at the end of next month.

The Sahiwal Coal-Fired Power Plant was co-invested and co-built by Huaneng Shandong Power Generation Co. Ltd. and Shandong Ruyi Group. The two units will generate nine billion kwh of electricity annually, meeting the energy needs of about 10 million people. The power plant is regarded as one of the early harvest projects of CPEC.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the inauguration ceremony, saying the project will help overcome the country’s load shedding. He also said that completion of the first unit in 22 months is unprecedented, and that the Belt and Road Initiative will not only benefit Pakistan, but also other countries along the route.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong also attended the ceremony, saying that more and more tangible outcomes under CPEC and the Belt and Road Initiative are on the way.

The project provided more than 2,000 jobs for locals and helped cultivate nearly 100 engineers for Pakistan, said Duan Changjie, deputy chief engineer of Huaneng Shandong Power Generation Co. Ltd. and project manager of the Sahiwal power plant.
http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0601/c90000-9222869.html

 

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Motorbike trek through CPEC'S karakhoram highway to china. The audio is messed up but the visuals are worth it.

 

[ghazi52]

CPEC Fiber Optic Project to bring revolutionary changes

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has instructed for establishment of a Software Park in Gilgit Baltistan in align with completion of fiber optic project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

He gave these instructions while chairing a meeting of Central Development Working Party in Islamabad on Friday.

The Minister said that establishment of this park will enable the people of the area to enter into a new era of modern technologies and data highways.

He said that CPEC fiber optic project is completing till December this year which will open news ways, enabling youth to accrue benefits of this multi-billion dollars project.

 

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