Both countries celebrated their 73 years of diplomatic relations on May 21, 2024. It has been golden journey of mutual respect, cooperation, coordination and collaboration jointly pursuing common goals of socio-economic prosperity, regional peace and stability since its inception.
The diplomatic relations of Pak-China is the vivid reflection of geo-economics, nurturing of Global South, Global Society for Shared Prosperity and last but not least, Xi Jinping’s Global Initiatives of Development, Security and Civilizational jointly striving for achieving a just, fair and free world from the Cold War Mentality, bloc formation, decoupling, delinking and notions of overcapacity.
The construction of Karakoram High Way, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), numerous civilian nuclear energy projects, advancement in armed forces capabilities in terms of strategic deterrence mainly JF-17 Thunder, submarine, tanks, radars, and drones and last but not least, ongoing China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has further strengthened Pak-China bilateral diplomatic relations enabling both the nations to deter political, economic and diplomatic pressures of the US and the west alike.
Right from the beginning, Pakistan has been respecting One China Principle and continuously providing its staunch support on its national issues pertaining to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Tibet and Xingjian regions.
On its part China has been assisting Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir, Afghanistan, fight and role against terrorism, economic self-reliance, financial aid and humanitarian assistance in the times of national crises changing miseries into opportunities and conflicts into comforts to struggling people in the country. The prime examples are devastating floods 2022 and earthquake of 2008. Thus Chinese government and its successive leadership have been full of humanism, humanistic spirits and human values to help the falling souls in the country.
Geopolitically and geo-strategically their diplomatic relations have been a balancing act in the region and beyond to mitigate spillover repercussions of Indian hegemonic policies and harsh schemes providing sense of security, sense of ownership, and shelter for the regional countries.
Moreover, Pakistan inclusion in the SCO has been achieved because of the Chinese extraordinary diplomatic support. The Chinese diplomatic support has also brightened Pakistan’s chances of inclusion in the BRICS in near future. The Chinese support for Climate Justice has consolidated Pakistan’s government to receive substantial funds from the international organizations and countries alike.
Now the CPEC has become lifeline and strategic cushion for the revival of Pakistan’s macro-economy, qualitative industrialization, modernization, green transformation, hybrid agriculture cooperation, building of special economic zones, science & space collaboration, artificial intelligence coordination, infrastructure development, energy generating units/projects and last but not least, social development in the country changing lives of the local communities.
China has invested US$25.4 billion in direct projects in Pakistan, creating 236,000 jobs, generating 8,000 megawatts of electricity, and building 510 kilometers of highways and 886 km of the national electricity grid.
Also, about 28,000 Pakistani students are studying in China and more than 20,000 Pakistanis were learning Chinese. Definitely, CPEC is a blessing and guarantor of our future socio-economic prosperity and eradication of poverty.
Pakistan’s annual plan for (2022-23) states that the CPEC Phase-II will emphasize industrialization and development of Special Economic Zones, agriculture modernization, science and technology cooperation, promotion of ICT-enabled environment and establishment of IT and high-technology zones and socio-economic development. It is estimated that the country’s GDP will increase by 6.43 percent until 2030 as a result of infrastructure investment. According to the World Bank report (2019) social welfare development from the CPEC Phase-II would increase by 10.51 percent.
Consequently, it will also help lift 1.1 million people out of extreme poverty. It has also potential to boost the employment opportunities and Pakistan may get four million new jobs. Trade will also witness an increase of 9.8 percent, if Pakistan implements the CPEC and support it by required reforms.
China’s mega projects CPEC also helped Pakistan manage the load-shedding which, in turn, contributed to control the annual loss of $4 to 5 billion. Moreover, energy development under the flagship of CPEC also contributes to tackle issues of aging plants and infrastructure related to electricity.
It has been one of the key economic drivers of Pakistan’s macro-economy due to which the efficiency and productivity of the energy sector has been further increased. Hopefully, further investment in CPEC Phase-II in power, gas and petroleum sectors will enhance its potential and production capacity.
Moreover, transport infrastructure is another important sector which contributed to overcome problems of connectivity. Many national, regional as well as international reports confirm that CPEC power plants are the most efficient in Pakistan.
Larger numbers of the small and medium enterprises also benefited from the investments of CPEC in the country. The contribution of the CPEC to national GDP was almost two percent due to which Pakistan surpassed the level of 5.8 percent GDP growth rate in 2018. According to many reports of the World Bank, the major beneficiaries in Pakistan in future would be Quetta, Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore.
To conclude, the earlier initiation of the CPEC Phase-II is the need of the hour. Agriculture development, rigorous green industrialization and development of Special Economic Zones, science and technology cooperation, artificial intelligence cooperation, digitalization, ICT development and last but not the least health cooperation will further strengthen bilateral diplomatic relation in the days to come.
There is an urgent need to further strengthen Pak-China Diplomatic Relations and jointly work for further development of small, medium and mega hydropower projects in the country which would provide cheap energy for economic development. Moreover, sincere efforts should also be initiated to jointly work for the development of “Green Hydrogen” energy projects in the country under the flagship projects of CPEC Phase-II.
Laiba Ghaffar
The writer belongs to the School of Communication Studies, University of Punjab.