ISLAMABAD: China and Pakistan will hold 13th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) virtually today (Friday) in the run-up to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s first visit to China after coming to power early this year.

Pakistan is pushing for expediting approval of financing for development of $6.7bn Main Line-1 (ML-1), notwithstanding internal opposition, and about $1.9bn Karachi Circular Railway during the JCC as part of the second phase of the multi-billion dollar CPEC initiative launched in 2013.

The JCC will be followed by PM Sharif’s visit to Beijing, expected in the first week of June. The JCC meetings have been taking place alternatively in Pakistan and China. The last (12th JCC) meeting had taken place in Beijing in July last year.

Sources in the Planning Commission said that despite internal opposition from the ministries of finance and economic affairs over the $6.7bn ML-1 project amid country’s higher debt indicators and tight scrutiny by the International Monetary Fund, the Pakistani side led by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal was urging the Chinese side to expedite the approval of 1,733km railway line from Karachi to Peshawar.

The project was cleared by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Wednesday for submission to the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) for approval at an estimated cost of $6.7bn.

The speed on the ML-1 has now been reduced to 120-160km per hour from originally conceived speed of 260km per hour in 2015-16. The project was then promised for takeoff early 2018 but had been delaying because of challenging financing terms.

The Chinese side has this time insisted PM Sharif’s visit should follow the 13th JCC so that outstanding issues are settled and a roadmap for cooperation under CPEC-2 is finalised during the high-profile state-level meeting.

Payables to Chinese power producers have gone beyond Rs550bn as of April 30, informed sources said. Pakistani has also pushed for early materialisation of two major hydropower projects in Azad Kashmir.

The “re-modified PC-1 for upgrade of Pakistan Railways existing ML-1 and establishment of dry port near Havelian” is proposed to be financed through foreign funding under the CPEC framework agreement.

A flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative, Pakistan and China have been implementing CPEC as strategic cooperation for sustainable growth and development. The government claims that phase-1 of CPEC has transformed Pakistan’s economic landscape laying a solid foundation for cooperation in industrialisation, agriculture, science & technology and socio-economic development. The Planning Commission has put the number of direct jobs created by CPEC at 236,000, providing employment to more than 155,000 Pakistanis. In the second phase, Pakistan is inviting Chinese companies to invest in the industrial sector.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2024