Xi Jinping and Nawaz Sharif signed 51 agreements for projects related to the "New Silk Road". A China-Pakistan Economic Corridor linking Xinjiang to the Arabian Sea and the Karot dam are among the ambitious goals. Agreements include roads, port facilities and power stations.

Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – China has promised Pakistan investments worth US$ 45 billion to have a more direct route to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani Prime Nawaz Sharif yesterday signed 51 agreements to build a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – a network of roads, railway and pipelines between the long-time allies.

Xi, whose visit lasted only two days (20-21 April), was the first Chinese president to travel to Pakistan in more than ten years.

For China, Pakistan is strategically located, providing access to the Indian Ocean over land and a boost to trade with Europe, Africa and the Middle East

China is also Pakistan’s top trading partner, and both have a mutual distrust of India, seen as the main obstacle to ‘New Silk Road’.

As part of the new partnership, two countries plan to build a 3,000-km corridor stretching from Xinjiang, in western China, to Gwadar, on the Arabian Sea.

They also agreed to build the Karot Dam in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, in northern Pakistan.

The 720-megawatt structure would take about six years to build, according to project documents filed by the World Bank’s International Finance Corp, which is investing US$ 125 million in China Three Gorges South Asia Investment.

It is expected to generate 75 per cent of its energy during the summer months when water flow in the Jhelum River is at its highest.

China Three Gorges Corp, the Beijing-based developer of the world’s largest dam, is expected to become Pakistan’s biggest clean-energy company with plans for US$ 5.5 billion of hydropower, solar and wind projects totalling more than 2,000 megawatts in capacity.

Pakistan requires as much as US billion in investments over the next five years to overcome a 10,000-megawatt shortfall in power capacity.

Xi and Sharif signed deals valued at US$ 28 billion to build roads, ports and power plants – nearly equal to the amount of foreign aid the US has provided to Pakistan over the past decade to support its war in Afghanistan.

The investments, if realised, will help Sharif revive Pakistan’s economy, which suffers from chronic power failures and an insurgency that has killed more than 50,000 people since 2001.

China also pledged to fight terrorism and help bring peace to Afghanistan.

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