BEIJING: Pakistan signed new deals with China on Saturday worth nearly $500 million ahead of Beijing’s international forum on its Silk Road trade and infrastructure initiative for Asia, Africa and Europe, the government said.
The memorandums of understanding add to $57 billion already pledged for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a network of rail, road and energy infrastructure that is part of the wider Chinese project also known as One Belt, One Road (OBOR).
The deals came as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the Beijing summit expected to be attended by leaders from at least 29 countries to promote Xi’s vision of expanding trade links.
Delegates in Beijing will hold a series of sessions today (Sunday) to discuss the plan in more detail, including trade and finance. Proposed in 2013 by Xi, the project is broad on ambition but still short on specifics. Pakistan has been a flagship country and one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the One Belt, One Road initiative, in part because many projects are for power plants to alleviate the country’s decade-long energy crisis.
“[The] China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a core component of your visionary initiative of the ‘One Belt, One Road’,” Nawaz told Xi when they met at the Great Hall of China on Saturday, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.
Xi called for a swift completion of projects involving Gwadar Port and special economic and industrial parks along the corridor, Xinhua news service reported.
