China Pakistan Economic Corridor | |
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Road network CPEC
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Type of project | Economic corridor |
Products | Roadways, railways, Special Economic Zones, energy production, mass transit |
Location | Pakistan: Baluchistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh China: Xinjiang |
Owner | Public and private |
Country |
People's Republic of China Pakistan |
Key people |
Li Keqiang Asif Ali Zardari Hu Jintao Xi Jinping Nawaz Sharif |
Established | 22 May 2013 |
Budget | $62 billion USD |
Status | Partly operational |
Website | cpec |
China Reaches Out to Pakistan With Massive Economic Plan. |
China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (Chinese: 中国-巴基斯坦经济走廊; Urdu: پاكستان-چین اقتصادی راہداری; also known by the acronym CPEC) is a collection of infrastructure projects that are currently under construction throughout Pakistan. Originally valued at $46 billion, the value of CPEC projects is now worth $62 billion. CPEC is intended to rapidly modernize Pakistani infrastructure and strengthen its economy by the construction of modern transportation networks, numerous energy projects, and special economic zones. On 13 November 2016, CPEC became partly operational when Chinese cargo was transported overland to Gwadar Port for onward maritime shipment to Africa and West Asia.
A vast network of highways and railways are to be built under the aegis of CPEC that will span the length and breadth of Pakistan. Inefficiencies stemming from Pakistan's mostly dilapidated transportation network are estimated by the government to cause a loss of 3.5% of the country's annual gross domestic product. Modern transportation networks built under CPEC will link seaports in Gwadar and Karachi with northern Pakistan, as well as points further north in western China and Central Asia. A 1,100 kilometre long motorway will be built between the cities of Karachi and Lahore as part of CPEC, while the Karakoram Highway between Rawalpindi and the Chinese border will be completely reconstructed and overhauled. The Karachi–Peshawar main railway line will also be upgraded to allow for train travel at up to 160 km per hour by December 2019. Pakistan's railway network will also be extended to eventually connect to China's Southern Xinjiang Railway in Kashgar. The estimated $11 billion required to modernise transportation networks will be financed by subsidized concessionary loans.