Only a fool would assume that Gawadar route will be used to transport goods all the way to Shanghai. As you have mentioned, distance from Kashgar to Shanghai is twice as much than distance from Gawadar to Kashgar. Gawadar will be used as main trading route for western China, because it will be the least cost route as per your above calculations. Agreed that west China has much smaller industrial base than east China. But that is due to long distance from port. Once west China gets short access to a port, it will undergo a similar boom like east China. And this is what China's plan is to make western China the future engine of growth because east china is reaching saturation. Fast economic growth in west China will help reduce militancy in the region as well.
So Gawadar will help China in terms of boosting its economic growth , improving its internal security and providing external strategic advantage.
Agreed that west China only accounts for a small part of China's economy. But Pakistan does not need whole of China's trade pass through it, nor Pakistan can handle it. If 10% of China's trade passes through Pakistan , that would be more than enough.
Western China lol , dou know the size of western china, your corridor won't have any impact on western China
Courtesy to anonymous
Your corridor is not airdropping in Western Qinghai so that it would have same effect on all of Western China; it is joining China in North-West corner of China ie Western corner of XinXiang (no 10). The only provinces that it could affect are no 10 (XinXiang) and its neighbours no9 (Tibet) ,no 8 (Qinghai) , no 7 (Gansu) in Western China, and no 4 (Inner Mongolia) in Northern China.
I have already counted all these provinces.And I am being generous here. XinXiang itself is so large that your corridor has no chance of affecting even its neighbours.
I think this problem that is shown by many poster in this thread arise from the fact they could not fathom that some provinces (mostly in Western China) are many times larger than even Pakistan itself. XinXiang is 2.1 times larger than Pakistan, Tibet is 1.54 times larger, Inner Mongolia 1.48 times larger, Qinghai equal to Pakistan, and Gansu half of Pakistan. You people seriously think that your highway would be used by people two province separated from Kashghar!!!!
Probably you does not understand that Eastern part of Western China is further away from Pakistan that even Europe!
For example capital of Shaanxi (Taiyuan) is as far away from Islamabad by air (3559 Km) as Ankara (3600 Km)
I am yet to understand this optimism of serving Eastern part of Western China.
let's do some analysis. I am calculating Islamabad so that you could get a grasp over distance as Ankara is 4400 Km away from Islamabad by road. and All distance henceforth are by road.
No 3 (Shaanxi), Capital (Taiyuan).
Distance of capital from Islamabad = 4904.3 Km
Distance of capital from nearest Chinese seaport (Tianjin)=943 Km
Distance of capital from Gwadar = 6644 Km
No 6 (Ningxia), Capital (Yinchuan)
Distance of capital from Islamabad = 4337 Km
Distance of capital from nearest Chinese seaport (Tianjin)= 1200 Km
Distance of capital from Gwadar = 6077 Km
No 1 (Chongquing) , No capital
Distance of Chongquibg from Islamabad = 5069 Km
Distance of Chongquing from nearest Chinese seaport = 0 Km. After construction of Three Gorges Dam, barring largest cargo Ship, Ocean going ships could sail upto Chongquing.
But still distance between Chongquing and Shanghai is 1689 Km
Distance of Chongquing from Gwadar = 6843 Km
no 4 (Guzihou) , capital (gulyang)
Distance of capital from Islamabad = 5459 Km
Distance of capital from nearest Chinese seaport (Beihai) = 796 Km
Distance of capital from Gwadar = 7199 Km
No 5 (Yunnan) , capital (Kuming)
Distance of capital from Islamabad = 5859 Km
Distance of capital from nearest Chinese seaport (Beihai) = 1024 Km
Distance of capital from Gwadar = 7635 Km
No 2 (Sichuan) , capital (Chengdu)
Distance of capital from Islamabad = 4976 Km
Distance of capital from nearest Chinese seaport (Chongquing) = 326 Km and (Shanghai) = 1968 Km
Distance of capital from Gwadar = 6716 Km
All these Western provinces that you dream Gwadar would serve are farther away from Gwadar than Western Europe is from Pakistan by Road. Distance between Islamabad and Berlin by road is 6353 Km , and of Paris is 7300 Km; nearly of the order of distance of Gwadar from any of Eastern provinces of Western China.