This is for beginners who dont know about CPEC .

What is a Corridor?

Economic corridors are integrated networks of

infrastructure within a geographical area
designed to stimulate economic development. Corridors
may be created to link manufacturing
hubs, areas with high supply and demand, and
manufacturers of value-added goods. When
implemented, the economic corridors are often one of a
package of different measures including
infrastructure development, visa and transport agreements
and standardization.

Geography of Pak-China Economic Corridor

The corridor is about 533 km from Karachi and 120 km from

the Iranian border and 380 km
northeast of the nearest point in Oman across the Arabian
Sea. Gwadar Port is located at the
mouth of the Persian Gulf, just outside the Strait of Hormuz,
near the key shipping routes in and
out of the Persian Gulf. It is situated on the eastern bay of a
natural hammerhead-shaped
Peninsula protruding into the Arabian Sea from the
coastline.

Project Details
This 107-km long track will be built with 50 bridges over
beautiful lakes and tunnels across
different mountains. By this project, 5 million commuters will
be benefited annually. Pakistan is
also working on Karachi-Lahore motorway. This 1160-km
long motorway will connect
Karachi, Hyderabad, Dadu, Sukkur, Rohri, Pannu Aqil,
Ghotki, Obara, Rahim Yar Khan,
Sadiqabad and Multan. This six-lane road will be built over
terrain composed of mainland,
mountains and plateaus. Three bridges will also be
constructed over River Sindh, Sutlej and
Ravi. These mega-projects along with several others will
help Pakistan stable its economy in
order to execute these projects.

Effects on the Region

At the regional level, India is not very happy with growing

Pak-China military and diplomatic
ties. During his visit to India, the Chinese president
announced $20 billion of Chinese
investment in India over the next five years while it has
promised to invest over $42 billion in
Pakistan; a strong Pakistan-Chinese alliance is a grave
threat to India. China has also increased
its trade with Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam,
Philippines, Myanmar, Singapore
and Malaysia to balance increased US influence in the
region under its Asia-Pacific policy.
China is spending heavily on its navy and building its
seaports in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and
Pakistan as a part of its “String of Pearls” strategy.

Strategic Importance

When the corridor is completed, it will serve as a primary

gateway for trade between China and
the Middle East and Africa. In particular, oil from the Middle
East could be offloaded at
Pakistan's Gwadar Port, which is located just outside the
mouth of the Persian Gulf, and
transported to China through the Balochistan province.
Such a link would vastly cut the 12,000-
kilometre route that Mideast oil supplies must now take to
reach Chinese ports. Gwadar is
located on the shores of the Arabian Sea it is in Pakistan's
western province of Balochistan.

Importance for Pakistan

Despite its economy being hit hard by flawed economic

policies, political chaos, and a spate of
terrorism, Pakistan has made a significant breakthrough on
the economic front as well as
against terrorist outfits. With the military going all out in
North Waziristan Agency and
adjoining areas to dismantle the operational infrastructure
and hideouts of terrorists, the PML-N
government has achieved a landmark goal by signing
numerous agreements with the Chinese
government.

Agreements and MoUs

Though the amount for all agreements and MoUs, a part of

the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor, is around US$34 billion, around 22 agreements
have already been signed between the
friendly neighbours. These include bilateral agreements for
Economic and Technical
Cooperation; Government's Concessional Loan Agreement
for Construction of Cross-Border
Optical Fibre Cable System between China and Pakistan;
Signing of Minutes of the 3rd JCC
Meeting of CPEC; Signing of MoU on the Outline of Long
Term Plan of CPEC; Signing of
MoU on Capacity Building for Development of CPEC;
Framework Agreement for Construction
of Cross-border Optical Fibre Cable System between China
and Pakistan; MoU on Cooperation
of Textile Garment Industrial Park Projects in Pakistan; and
some other projects.
In energy sector, MoU on Surface Mine in Block-II of Thar
Coal Mine and the Engro Thar
2X330 MW Coal Fired Power Plant between Sindh Engro
Coal Mining Company and China
Development Bank Corporation have been signed.
Others included MoUs for development of Thermal Power
Assets for Pakistan, HUBCO Power
Company Limited (2 x 660MW including Jetty);
Memorandum of Facilitation between Port
Qasim Electric Power Company Private Limited and
Government of Pakistan (2X660);
Memorandum of Facilitation Agreement between Govt. of
Punjab and M/s Huaneng Shandong
Rui Group, China for Development of 1320 (2660) MW Coal
Fired Power Project at
Qadirabad, Sahiwal; Signing of Framework Facility
Agreement on Sukhi-Kinari Hydro Power
Project; Memorandum of Facilitation Agreement between
Govt. of Punjab and M/s China
Machinery Engineering Corporation China (CMEC) for
1660 MW Coal Fired Power Plant at
Muzaffargarh.
In Gwadar, agreements have been made to construct
Gwadar New International Airport;
Gwadar Eastbay Expressway; Hospital at Gwadar;
Technical & Vocational Training Institute;
Water Supply and Distribution; Infrastructure for Free Zone
& EPZs port related Industries and
Marine works.
The Chinese government plans to
complete this economic zone by year
2020, and industrialists have been
offered tax-free zone and other
government concessions.
Infrastructure Projects

The infrastructure projects planned

included Karakorum Highway (KKH)
Phase II (Raikot-Islamabad); Karachi-
Lahore Motorway (KLM) – (Multan-
Sukkur Section); Expansion &
Reconstruction of existing Mail Railway
Line (ML-1); Peshawar to Karachi;
Construction of Havelian Dry Port; Orange
Line Project at Lahore; and Cross Border
Optical Fiber Cable system project.
Energy Projects

Significant Energy Projects are being

installed of around 10,400 megawatts. Those projects
included the Port Qasim Electric Power
Company (2X660) 1320 megawatts; Engro Thar Coal-fired
Power Plant 660 megawatts; Sindh
Sino Resources Power Plant of Thar Coal (Block-1) 1320
megawatts; Gwadar Coal Power
Project 300 megawatts; Rahimyar Khan Coal Power 1320
megawatts; Muzaffargarh Coal
Power 1320 megawatts; Sahiwal Power Plant 1320
megawatts; Suki Kinari Power Project 870
megawatts; Karot Hydro Power Station 720 megawatts;
UEP Wind Power Project 100
megawatts; Sunec Wind Power Project 50 megawatts;
Sachal Wind Power Project 50
megawatts; Dawood Wind Power Project 50 megawatts;
Quaid-e-Azam Solar 900 megawatts;
and Quaid-e-Azam Solar 100 megawatts.

Making Corridor Operational

For the purpose of making the economic zone operational,

the Chinese government has been
involved in constructing a multi-billion-dollar New Kashgar
City, where Kashgar Special
Economic Zone is being constructed. With its proximity to
Pakistan (approximately 500
kilometres) and a flying time of around one hour, Kashgar-
Gawadar Economic Corridor may
prove to be a game-changer for development in Pakistan,
India and beyond.
The Chinese government plans to complete this economic
zone by year 2020, and industrialists
have been offered tax-free zone and other government
concessions.
This economic zone would prove to be the linchpin for trade
between China, Pakistan, India,
Afghanistan and eight other central Asian states.
The integrated project has been designed under a holistic
approach to link modern means of
communication including rail, road links with trade and
economic opportunities not only for
both China and Pakistan but for the entire South Asia.
The early harvest projects of China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor would be completed within a
span of two to three years. These include laying of rail, road
networks besides several long and
short term energy projects.

Strategic Importance for China

This trade initiative has strategic importance for China as

well as Pakistan as it would provide
an opportunity to reach out to the Central Asian states
through Pakistan and Afghanistan.
There is an integrated communication network which would
not only benefit Pakistan but also
China to help open a new vista of trade with the rest of the
world in a short period of time.
Chinese trade through this route would grow manifold.
In order to operationalise China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor, the Chinese government has set
up a special economic zone in the historical city of Kashgar,
which is the border city between
China and Pakistan.
The New Kashgar Economic Zone is spread on 6600 acres
of land and various provincial
governments of China and some private firms are
developing their own projects within the tax
free zone.
All necessary civic facilities are available in Kashgar New
City Project where the preservation
of farms is also being ensured. In the eastern part of the
Kashgar New City, residential areas,
hospitals, parks and other civic facilities are being made
available. Since Kashgar borders eight
countries, a business city has been named after each
country of the region.

Conclusion

The business community of the entire region may benefit

from the ambitious project designed
to share and expand the trade opportunities for progress
and development of South Asia. This
would not only help regional governments to fight poverty,
illiteracy and religious fanaticism,
but would also bring development and prosperity of the
people of around ten developing states.