China's restive Xinjiang region signs US$2 billion worth of deals with neighbouring Pakistan

Companies from China’s violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang signed deals worth about US$2 billion with Pakistan this week during a visit to Pakistan by Xinjiang’s top official who sought to cement ties with an important security partner.

Pakistan last year agreed energy and infrastructure projects worth US$46 billion with China to set up a so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in a boost to Pakistan’s crumbling infrastructure and energy sector.

Pakistan will help China in fight against Xinjiang militants: Sharif

In return, China will get a free trade zone in Pakistan’s Gwadar port and access to the Arabian Sea. New Pakistani roads will open up routes for Chinese goods into Europe and the Middle East from landlocked Xinjiang, which borders Pakistan.

During a four-day visit to Pakistan, Xinjiang’s Communist Party chief Zhang Chunxian met Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, visited Islamabad, Karachi and Gwadar, the official Xinjiang Daily said on Friday.

“China and Pakistan have a deep friendship, are good neighbours, friends, brothers and partners,” the newspaper cited Zhang as saying.

“On this trip, I have deeply felt this friendship and the atmosphere surrounding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.”

The US$2 billion in agreements covered infrastructure, solar power and logistics, among other projects, signed by companies from Xinjiang with their Pakistan counterparts, the newspaper said, without giving details.