Chinese President Is Due in Pakistan, Ready to Invest $46 Bln

  20 April 2015    Read: 532
Chinese President Is Due in Pakistan, Ready to Invest $46 Bln
China`s president is set to arrive in Pakistan on Monday for a two-day visit to launch a $46 billion project to build a China-Pakistan economic corridor, linking the two countries.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to hold two days of talks in Pakistan, meeting with Pakistan`s President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other ministers.

The Chinese leader is also expected to address the country`s parliament on Tuesday.

The main purpose of the high-profile visit is to launch a $46 billion investment project: the construction of the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

This planned network of roads, railways and energy projects is expected to stretch 3,000km, linking Pakistan`s deepwater port city of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea with China`s far-western Xinjiang region. It would shorten the route for China`s energy imports, bypassing the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, a bottleneck which risks being blockaded during wartime.

China has promised to invest about $34 billion into energy projects and nearly $12 billion into infrastructure.

Deals worth some $28bn are ready to be signed during the visit, with the rest to follow.

The sum is expected to significantly outweigh American investment in Pakistan.

Some $15.5 bln worth of coal, wind, solar and hydro energy projects will come online by 2017, adding 10,400 megawatts of energy to Pakistan`s national grid, according to officials.

A $44 mln optical fiber cable between the two countries is also due to be built.

If the submarine deal is signed, China may also offer Pakistan concessions on building a refueling and mechanical station in Gwadar, a defense analyst said.

China`s own submarines could use the station to extend their range in the Indian Ocean.

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