Pak, China kick off ambitious USD 46 billion economic corridor project with Beijing

Pakistan and China today kicked off their ambitious 46 billion US Dollar economic corridor project with Beijing acquiring over 2,000 acres of land in restive Balochistan to develop the strategic Gwadar port.

Chinese official media reported that the two countries have signed a deal to give the usage right of the land to a Chinese company. India has already objected to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as it passes through the Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

The two countries have signed a deal to acquire the usage rights to more than 2,000 acres of land for a Chinese company, Chinese official media reported. Asked about the deal between the two close allies at the Gwadar port city, which will get linked to China’s Kashgar city in Xinjiang through a network of roads and oil pipelines, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that the port development is a mutually beneficial project. It is a major project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, (CPEC). We will continue to uphold the principle of mutual consultation and mutual benefit and move ahead with the port project,” he said.

China defends the project saying it is a commercial venture aimed at improving livelihoods of local people. China is expected to invest USD 1.62 billion in the Gwadar project, including construction of an expressway linking the harbour and coastline, a rail link, breakwater and other nine projects expected to be completed in three to five years, state-run China Daily reported.