China-Pakistan railway ‘worth it’ at estimated US$58 billion: study

[etylo]

first time? I've posted it here a number of times. thereafter it was even discussed by PTI loving journos on ARY news mistakenly thinking that they were exposing only the PMLN.

a group of them visited the then COAS to ask him fix the no confidence vote in favor of the crooked Imran Khan (as he had done a number of times previously). he refused citing this very reason saying he's had made enough mistakes already and it was time to be out. search on ARY channel on youtube for program "the Reporters" from around the time of no confidence vote.

I want the link in English to the official investigative report on the corruption of CPEC projects. Certainly, I was not reading your posts if any.

 

[game]

The railway lines serves Chinese purposes the most .cos Pakistan does not have major industries that can access railway line to import/export or ship raw/finished materials in bulk that necessities the use of railways to cut costs or time
Why not China build for free ,use it for 30 or 40 yrs and transfer the assets to Pakistan??
China needs a short cuts to access Arabian Sea and Pakistan has to take loan to build it for China ? Is BRI a Pakistan project? Why loan burden on Pakistan ?

 

[etylo]

That's an alternative to Malacca strait. You should pray the project progress without American sabotage. They will try to pressure Pakistanis for sure. Let's ask google

How much Chinese oil goes through the Strait of Malacca?

The imports are critical for China as imported oil from abroad makes up 75 percent of its entire oil consumption, which ultimately means that roughly 60 percent of China's entire supply of oil passes through this one and a half mile wide stretch.

Dire straits for flow of trade through Malacca

As a video on China’s catastrophic oil and gas problem explains, Beijing, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Washington are all directly at odds with each other over the Strait of Malacca because of the importance of this major geopolitical thoroughfare.

www.theinsurer.com

If US navy is able to stop Chinese oil liners through Malacca, then US navy will certainly able to cutoff Chinese oil supply lines in the Arabian sea to Gwader port becos US navy is much stronger than Chinese navy in this region.

 

[NagaBaba]

Pak railways like PIA is in bad shape. Our transport of both ppl n goods are more biased towards highway n motorways and it players have a monopoly.
China should push the gov towards incentives for the masses to use railways.
That will help alot of other problems and be financially viable aswell.

Privatisation of Steel Mills and PIA should be done. Those are huge loss giving entities.

In Indian language we saying "divestment"

but govt still keeping over watch

dirty old slow bureaucracy.. "civil workers", the "babudom", if you will..

unhappy, under-paid + over-worked people up and down the rusty corrupt chain

planes crashing, electricity grid collapsing..

enter stage right: the corporate fascists.. who then save the day, those knights in shining armor..

all systems are having intercourse with us and ENJOYING !

same story in the Pakistan

 

[SaadH]

If US navy is able to stop Chinese oil liners through Malacca, then US navy will certainly able to cutoff Chinese oil supply lines in the Arabian sea to Gwader port becos US navy is much stronger than Chinese navy in this region.

Not if PLAN stations one of its carriers permanently at Gawadar or Ormara

 

[etylo]

Not if PLAN stations one of its carriers permanently at Gawadar or Ormara

That have to wait until more advanced Chinese aircraft carriers are ready and overall Chinese navy strength is equal or stronger than US.

 

[Muhammed45]

If US navy is able to stop Chinese oil liners through Malacca, then US navy will certainly able to cutoff Chinese oil supply lines in the Arabian sea to Gwader port becos US navy is much stronger than Chinese navy in this region.

India and other US allies will take that role. As it seems China is preparing itself for that day, to replace the route without being forces into fighting against American allies in that region, given that American allies have significant presence there.

The attacks on Chinese workers and engineers in Pakistan should remind you of a sobring fact. We are talking about the savagest empire of human history, they will look for every possible way to remove Chinese presence from Pakistan.

 

[Edevelop]

This project must go ahead and be built at whatever cost. It will give a huge boost to Pakistan's economy and geostrategies

 

[NagaBaba]

India and other US allies will take that role. As it seems China is preparing itself for that day, to replace the route without being forces into fighting against American allies in that region, given that American allies have significant presence there.

The attacks on Chinese workers and engineers in Pakistan should remind you of a sobring fact. We are talking about the savagest empire of human history, they will look for every possible way to remove Chinese presence from Pakistan.

you are lier !

India having best relation with Iran.

 

[beijingwalker]

China's railroad to world domination: $58 billion raillink with Pakistan will reduce reliance on West​

Chinese rail review board says system connecting Pakistan to China will change trade and geopolitics​

By Caitlin McFall | Fox News

CHINA

Published April 27, 2023 1:20pm EDT

China has proposed its most expensive Belt and Road Initiative to date with a $58 billion railway system that would connect Pakistan to western China in a move to further reduce Western trade dependence, a report said Thursday.

The $57.7 billion plan was reviewed by analysts from the state-owned China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group Co Ltd., which has determined that despite its hefty price tag the investment is worth it, reported the South China Morning Post.

The 1,860-mile rail system will connect Pakistan’s port of Gwadar to the Chinese city of Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and has the potential to reshape not only trade but geopolitics, according to the proposal’s review board.

"The government and financial institutions should provide strong support, increase coordination and collaboration among relevant domestic departments, strive for the injection of support funds and provide strong policy support and guarantees for the construction of this project," the Chinese team of analysts said in a report published earlier this month in the Chinese journal, Railway Transport and Economy.

Though the railway connecting China to Pakistan would be China’s biggest transport project yet, this is not the first major international rail system the Institute has been involved in, having helped with Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail line in Indonesia – Asia’s first high-speed rail system – which is slated to open in June.

The latest rail system to get the green light in China will connect the world’s top manufacturer with the Arabian Sea, opening it up to more direct trade routes.

It is also expected to encourage additional train systems that could connect China to Turkey and Iran – significantly opening up direct access to the regions, reported the South China Morning Post.

Foreign ministers from China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan meet in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on April 13, 2023. (Bai Xueqi/Xinhua via Getty Images)

The trade routes are just one component of Beijing’s broader Belt and Road Initiative that looks to solidify China as a world superpower and encourage global domination in the trade sector.

The initiative is also looking to shift focus away from historical trade routes dominated by Western nations to better improve China's economic goals and encourage a "multipolar world" to diminish Western power – a move that top autocratic nations like Russia and Iran have also been eager to encourage as geopolitical tensions with the West continue to escalate.

China's railroad to world domination: $58 billion rail link with Pakistan will reduce reliance on West

China has proposed its most expensive Belt and Road Initiative yet with a $58 billion railway system that would connect Pakistan to western China in a move to further reduce Western trade dependence.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Indos]

That's an alternative to Malacca strait. You should pray the project progress without American sabotage. They will try to pressure Pakistanis for sure. Let's ask google

How much Chinese oil goes through the Strait of Malacca?

The imports are critical for China as imported oil from abroad makes up 75 percent of its entire oil consumption, which ultimately means that roughly 60 percent of China's entire supply of oil passes through this one and a half mile wide stretch.

Dire straits for flow of trade through Malacca

As a video on China’s catastrophic oil and gas problem explains, Beijing, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Washington are all directly at odds with each other over the Strait of Malacca because of the importance of this major geopolitical thoroughfare.

www.theinsurer.com

China can get oil and gas using pipeline from Russia as source.

The railway lines serves Chinese purposes the most .cos Pakistan does not have major industries that can access railway line to import/export or ship raw/finished materials in bulk that necessities the use of railways to cut costs or time
Why not China build for free ,use it for 30 or 40 yrs and transfer the assets to Pakistan??
China needs a short cuts to access Arabian Sea and Pakistan has to take loan to build it for China ? Is BRI a Pakistan project? Why loan burden on Pakistan ?

Correct

 

[Maula Jatt]

Not worth it at 58 billion $, we can't afford it

This is way too expensive and only a traitor to his/her people would sign this deal

China-Pakistan railway ‘worth it’ at estimated US$58 billion: study​

• Belt and Road Initiative’s most expensive transport infrastructure project ‘has potential’ to reshape trade and geopolitics
• The rail link is part of a broader plan to revive ancient Silk Road connections and reduce reliance on Western-dominated routes

Stephen Chen in Beijing
Published: 3:01pm, 27 Apr, 2023

The China-Pakistan railway – China’s largest Belt and Road Initiative transport project – will cost an estimated 400 billion yuan (US$57.7 billion), but should proceed because of its strategic significance, a government-commissioned feasibility study has found.

The proposed railway, connecting Pakistan’s port of Gwadar to Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was assessed by scientists from the state-owned China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group Co Ltd.

The team, led by the institute’s deputy director of capital operations Zhang Ling, said the project was the belt and road plan’s most expensive transport infrastructure.

Despite the cost, the project had the potential to reshape trade and geopolitics across the Eurasian continent and should be supported, the team said in a report published by the Chinese-language journal Railway Transport and Economy in April.

“The government and financial institutions [in China] should provide strong support, increase coordination and collaboration among relevant domestic departments, strive for the injection of support funds and provide strong policy support and guarantees for the construction of this project,” they said.

The institute is one of the largest of its kind in China and has been involved in many major railway projects at home and internationally, including Indonesia’s Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail line.

The 3,000km (1,860-mile) railway will link China’s western regions with the Arabian Sea, bypassing the Strait of Malacca and reducing dependence on the South China Sea.

Connections with other transport networks – including in Iran and Turkey – would also provide a more direct route to Europe for Chinese goods, while Pakistan is forecast to get a much-needed boost from the improved infrastructure and easier trade with China.

The scheme is a key component of Beijing’s broader belt and road plan to promote economic cooperation and connectivity among the countries along the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Previous studies by Chinese government researchers have suggested the infrastructure initiative could have significant geopolitical implications, helping to shift the balance of power away from traditional Western-dominated trade routes.

As well as encouraging a more multipolar world order, the belt and road plan could also help to promote economic development and stability in countries along the route by creating jobs, boosting infrastructure investment and increasing trade, the studies said.

Most belt and road transport infrastructure construction projects had received a significant proportion of funding from the host countries, and the scale of investment was much smaller, Zhang and his colleagues noted.

For example, total investment in Kenya’s Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway was US$3.8 billion, with China providing 5 per cent of the funding and Kenya paying for the rest.

The project connects the port city to the Kenyan capital and is part of a larger plan to link East African countries by rail. Similarly, China contributed 30 per cent of the US$4 billion funding for the Addis Ababa-Djibouti rail line in Ethiopia.

China covered 75 per cent of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway’s costs of US$5.9 billion, with Indonesian state-owned enterprises providing the remainder.
But Pakistan is unable to make a similar contribution. Its GDP last year was US$370 billion – just six times the estimated cost of the project.

“Due to energy shortages, poor investment environment and fiscal deficits, Pakistan’s economic growth rate has come under pressure,” the team said.

“In terms of railway investment and construction, Pakistan is unable to provide sufficient financial and material support and mainly relies on Chinese enterprises for investment and construction.”

One reason for the hefty cost is the mountainous and geologically complex terrain along the route. There could be technical challenges to overcome in the construction and operation of the railway, the researchers said.

The project also required supporting infrastructure – such as ports and logistics facilities – that might not be immediately available in Pakistan, they said.

The study said Pakistan’s labour policies could be unpredictable, which could potentially affect the railway’s construction and operating costs.

The team also noted that Pakistan had experienced security challenges in recent years, including in its western region where the railway will pass through. Balochistan province, for instance, has been plagued by separatist violence for decades.

This could potentially disrupt construction and operation of the railway and pose a risk to Chinese workers and investments, the researchers said.

The study also pointed out the railway’s potential impact on neighbouring countries, such as India. With each country having its own priorities and interests, there could be disagreements or delays in decision-making related to the project, it said.

Zhang’s team suggested that a build and transfer (BT) model would provide the best investment and financing strategy for the project.

They considered BT against build-operate-transfer, public-private partnerships, and the engineering, procurement, construction mode that are becoming more popular in belt and road projects.

In the BT model, a contractor would be responsible for designing, building and financing the railway, with payment on completion and ownership transferred to the government or other commissioning entity.

The researchers said BT would allow the risks associated with the railway’s construction and operation to be allocated more effectively between China and Pakistan, potentially reducing the financial risks for both parties.

By ensuring that ownership of the railway was transferred to Pakistan, BT could also help to build trust between China and Pakistan by showing China’s commitment to supporting Pakistan’s long-term economic development, they said.

China and Pakistan have been talking for years about the railway, a crucial part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that was launched in 2015 and aims to connect Gwadar port to Xinjiang through a network of roads, railways and pipelines.

The researchers said the China-Pakistan relationship was complex, with both countries having different priorities and interests.

Negotiating agreements related to financing, labour policies, and other issues would require careful consideration of each country’s priorities and interests, they said.

In conclusion, Zhang and his team said their recommendation could help to move negotiations forward.

China-Pakistan railway ‘worth it’ at estimated US$58 billion: study

Belt and Road Initiative’s most expensive transport infrastructure project ‘has potential’ to reshape trade and geopolitics.

www.scmp.com

Idiots happy over this

Please explain how TF would we pay for it? It'll pretty much enslave us to Chinese intrests

 

[Valar.]

Judging by grand success of CPEC, I'd politely say, thanks but no thanks.

 

[Maula Jatt]

Chinese are paying for it (no loans, no kickbacks, no fat chor, no fake mehdi chor to rob it or mess it up this time).

the one that Pakistanis would have paid 11 billion for is no good as it would have been under the rubble of rock-slides for most of the year or closed for part of the year during winters due to the same risks just like the highway to China is shut or buried.

Chinese are not paying for it, we are with loans

How about no trains for the time being, we are clearly way too economically, politically unstable to afford such a grand undertaking

Even if you're adamant that we need 160 kph mainline from peshawar to Karachi than
A- do a hard bargain for cheaper terms
B- we don't really need a rail connection with china considering they're the exporters, if they need our southern ports
We are gaining from it, but not as much as they're and definitely not $58 billion worth

 

[aziqbal]

58 billion dollars is too expensive.

$58 billion can manufacture 70 type 055 destroyers or 14 aircraft carriers.

but neither Type 055 or aircraft carrier can travel over land