Wang Yi: Economic corridor adds no debt to Pakistan

The construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has gained concrete outcomes and does not add to Pakistan’s debt burden, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Islamabad on Saturday.

The corridor is a major economic cooperation project carried out to meet Pakistan’s needs, Wang said at a joint news conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry.

Of all the 22 cooperation projects under the framework of the CPEC, nine have been completed, and 13 are in construction, according to Wang. A total of $19 billion has been invested into these projects, which have created 70,000 jobs for Pakistan, Wang said.

The construction of the corridor is not for certain regions or groups, but is for the whole of Pakistan and will benefit all the Pakistani people, Wang said.

Of Pakistan’s foreign debt, 47 percent is from multilateral financial institutions, Wang said. Of the corridor’s 22 projects, 18 are directly invested in or aided by China, while only four are financed with China’s concessional loans, he added.

As a result, the projects have not increased Pakistan’s debt burden. Instead, when completed and put into use, they will bring remarkable economic benefit to Pakistan, Wang pointed out.

The early benefits gained from the construction of the corridor are mainly energy and transport infrastructure, which meet the urgent needs of Pakistan and will help the country overcome impediments to its growth, Wang said, adding that China will continue to respect Pakistan’s will in how to promote the corridor’s development.

Wang said he and Qureshi believe that the corridor projects have always been transparent, and that all of the projects have been assessed properly and gone through all due process.

Also, the two countries are willing to attract third parties into the construction of the corridor so that it can contribute more to regional economic cooperation and interconnectivity, Wang said.

Wang, who started his three-day visit to Pakistan on Friday, said he and Qureshi also reached a 10-point consensus, one of which is to better promote the construction of the corridor, another statement from the Foreign Ministry showed.

Linking Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Gwadar in western Pakistan, the CPEC is planned to be an artery featuring a number of projects, including those of energy and infrastructure, and promoting cooperation between, and growth in, the two countries as well as across the region.