$8.5-bn deals inked, Pak, China launch CPEC 2.0

Pakistan and China have formally launched the second phase of the controversial CPEC project and signed 21 agreements and joint ventures worth about $8.5 billion.

The MoUs were signed in Beijing on Thursday, on the concluding day of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China, when he met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and attended an investors’ conference.

According to the Dawn newspaper on Friday, the agreements covered cooperation in the development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) 2.0, as well as in areas like science and technology, information technology, media, investment, and agriculture.

The total worth of the MoUs and joint ventures is about $8.5 billion, it said. The PM Office in an official statement said during talks with Li, Shehbaz described the meeting as “most productive”.

“Both sides also agreed to continue working closely on the next phase of the upgraded CPEC 2.0, with its five new corridors,” it said.

India opposes the CPEC, which will link Xinjiang in China and the Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Balochistan, as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The CPEC is the flagship project of China’s ambitious multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI is seen as an attempt by Beijing to further its influence abroad with infrastructure projects funded by Chinese investments all over the world.

The PMO statement said, during the meeting, Sharif highlighted the “significant contribution” of the CPEC to Pakistan’s socio-economic development in the past decade. He also stressed the need to accelerate the implementation of the Main Line-1 (ML-1) railway project, the realignment of the Karakoram Highway, and the operationalisation of the Gwadar Port.

In a social media post on Thursday, Sharif said he “invited Chinese companies to enhance their investment footprint in Pakistan” and underlined that both sides agreed to advance their cooperation in IT, agriculture, minerals, textiles and industry.