China has reportedly declined Pakistan’s requests to include additional projects within the expansive China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) scheme, as revealed by sources who reviewed minutes from a joint oversight committee meeting last year.
The CPEC initiative encompasses a wide array of major infrastructure projects in Pakistan, spanning transport, energy, and other sectors, with the aim of fostering economic development and enhancing trade between the two countries.
Valued at over $60 billion and predominantly funded by China, CPEC stands as a flagship project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a prominent international endeavor.
The officials who examined the minutes disclosed that China rejected Pakistan’s appeals to invest in additional ventures related to energy, power transmission, climate change, and tourism, primarily citing concerns over Pakistan’s political instability following the ousting of Prime Minister Imran Khan in April of the previous year.
Among Pakistan’s proposed additions to the CPEC framework was the installation of a 500kV transmission line to connect the port city of Gwadar to the national power grid.
However, China exerted pressure on Pakistan to withdraw objections to a 300MW coal-fired power plant in Gwadar, insisting that the plant remain at its current location, allowing the utilization of domestic coal rather than imported coal.
The minutes under discussion pertain to the 11th meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee responsible for overseeing CPEC projects, conducted in October the previous year. However, these minutes were not formally signed until July of the current year.
Responding to earlier claims in local media that China was hesitant to broaden the scope of CPEC, the Ministry of Planning issued a press release asserting that such claims were “factually incorrect and misleading.” The ministry emphasized China and Pakistan’s commitment to expanding the development program to encompass areas such as water management, climate change, and tourism, all of which were already outlined in the CPEC Long Term Plan.