Xi Jinping calls for port and railway projects in Pakistan to be ‘accelerated’

Chinese president tells visiting Pakistani leader Shehbaz Sharif that work on Gwadar Port should be pushed forward

Islamabad statement says Sharif signed agreements on a ‘broad range’ of areas, without elaborating

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) meets Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 9:00pm, 2 Nov 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for joint port and railway projects in Pakistan to be pushed forward in talks with the South Asian country’s leader in Beijing.

He told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday that the Gwadar Port development – a centrepiece of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC – should be sped up, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.

CPEC projects, worth an estimated US$62 billion and mainly involving transport and energy infrastructure, have faced delays because of difficulties raising funds, Covid-19 restrictions and supply chain woes. Recent floods across the country have also battered Pakistan’s economy, and the government has said some US$16.3 billion was needed for reconstruction efforts.

The leaders also discussed defence, trade, agriculture, health, energy and disaster preparedness, according to a statement from Islamabad. Photo: Xinhua

Part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative to grow global trade, CPEC aims to connect China’s western Xinjiang region with Pakistan by road and rail, and with oil and gas pipelines. It would provide access to the Arabian Sea, making it easier for oil and gas exporters in the Middle East to sell to China.

“Construction of supporting infrastructure at Gwadar Port needs to be accelerated, so that the port can unleash its role in helping with regional interconnectivity,” Xi was quoted as saying by Xinhua. “The two sides should work together to create conditions favourable for early launches of the Main Line 1 upgrade and the Karachi Circular Railway.”

Negotiations began last year on loan arrangements for the railway line linking the southern city of Karachi, the most populous city in Pakistan, to Peshawar to its north, but had yet to be finalised ahead of Sharif’s trip. Bureaucracy was also blamed for the delayed restoration of the circular railway, which became partially operational again in 2020 – decades after it was shut down in 1999 because of financial losses and other problems.

The Pakistani government said in a statement that Sharif, on his first visit to China as prime minister, had signed agreements covering a “broad range” of areas, but did not give details.