CPEC enters high quality development phase, says NDRC spokesperson Meng Wei

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has entered a new phase of high-quality development after making significant achievements in a wide range of areas over the years, China’s top economic planner said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Meng Wei, a spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said that the CPEC has made significant progress, as expressways, vocational schools and power plants funded by China have been put into operation in Pakistan.

As a major pilot project of the Belt and Road Initiative, the CPEC will accelerate Pakistan’s socioeconomic development in multiple areas, including energy and transportation, according to Meng.

Specifically, the output of power plants in Sahiwal and Qasim accounts for 33 percent of the national power supply in Pakistan, which has relieved power shortages, according to the NDRC.

Meanwhile, the first urban rail transit system in Lahore and the expressway from Karakorum to Peshawar-Karachi have been completed and opened to traffic. The La Shaqa’i Special Economic Zone will further boost new bilateral industrial cooperation.

The NDRC spokesperson said that China and Pakistan will continue to strengthen cooperation focused on the Gwadar port, as well as energy and infrastructure projects, in order to promote the high-quality development of the CPEC.

On September 23, the Joint Council for Cooperation of the CPEC held a meeting, where five cooperation documents and three inter-enterprise cooperation agreements were signed.

Launched in 2013, CPEC is a corridor linking the Gwadar Port with Kashgar in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights infrastructure, energy and industrial cooperation.