What is China-Pakistan Economic Corridor?

India should be included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) if it’s true promise is to be realised. The new challenge was his emphasis on including India in the CPEC vision, thus opening up the doors of the corridor towards the growing economy to the east.

The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is an ongoing development megaproject, which aims to connect Gwadar Portin southwestern Pakistan to China’s northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang, via a network of highways, railways and pipelines to transport oil and gas.

The One-Belt-One-Road project to connect inner China with the Middle East and Europe is linked to $33bn worth of energy projects and coal-fired electricity plants and almost $10bn on road and rail projects. Money will flow through Chinese banks to Chinese companies which will employ Chinese workers - just what China needs to stimulate growth.

The economic corridor is considered central to China–Pakistan relations and will run about 3,000kms from Gwadar to Kashgar. Overall construction costs are estimated at over $46 billion, with the entire project expected to be completed in several years. The Corridor is an extension of China’s proposed 21st century Silk Road initiative.

When the CPE corridor is constructed, it will expand the number of trade routes between China, the Middle East and Africa. Energy security is a key concern for China, as it is the world's biggest oil importer, and oil pipelines through Pakistan would cut out ocean travel through Southeast Asia.

China plans to build oil storage facilities and a refinery at Gwadar Port, with oil transported to its Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region via road and pipeline. This will let it move energy and goods to inland China without going through the Strait of Malacca, which could be blocked by the U.S. or India should hostilities break out in the region. The project will also lead to development in western China, where tensions are simmering from activities by radical separatists.