A day before Xi’s visit to Pakistan, the foundation of a new joint Pakistan-China think tank to research and develop the corridor was launched at a conference on the Chinese island of Hainan. Xi put the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor at the centre of the two countries’ bilateral cooperation, which also includes co-operation to strengthen security – the greatest obstacle in Pakistan. In total, China announced an investment of $45 billion in Pakistan’s energy and infrastructure construction. Xi corrected that perception when he paid his first state visit to Pakistan in April and brought with him deals worth billions. Xi put the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor at the centre of the two countries’ bilateral cooperation. When Xi cancelled his planned visit to Pakistan due to the instability and ongoing turmoil last September, some saw relations as being severely damaged and expected progress on the Economic Corridor to be delayed further. The Karakoram-Highway also remains under construction and is just shaping up to become a true highway (it is expected to re-open end of this year). Gwadar port is still under construction (it is set to start operation this year). However, despite this long record of joint cooperation, results are overdue– mainly due to the precarious security situation within Pakistan. According to Chinese president Xi Jinping, the Economic Corridor is “a major project of the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative”. Since 2013, China and Pakistan have been planning a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which connects Gwadar with China's western Xinjiang region. China has financed and developed the Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea since the 1990s. China’s construction of the Karakoram Highway/Road from China to Pakistan dates back to the beginning of the 1970s – long before the “Silk Road” hype of the last few months. The Silk Road initiative has also given a new impetus to China’s infrastructure development in Pakistan. Since 2013, the new Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping has developed this narrative that integrates existing projects in two mega “Belt and Road” initiatives. Beginning with Jiang Zemin in 1996, the Silk Road narrative has been long used by Chinese leaders to increase China’s – mainly economic – cooperation with other countries in Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East, Africa – and in Europe. The “Belt and Road” initiative” includes two elements, a Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road the aim is to create a northern road corridor and a southern maritime corridor to connect China with Europe. Despite China’s commitment to the Silk Road project, it’s not clear that it is going anywhere. But after decades, progress has been limited. One of the places where China had begun re-construction of ancient Silk Road links early on is Pakistan. But China will face huge challenges in making the New Silk Road a reality. It launched a massive public relations campaign – which even held out the prospect of “ Silk Road Tourism” – to turn the idea of a global transportation network into an incentive to cooperate with China and an expression of an Asian “community of destiny”. Since 2013, China has been hyping its New Silk Road project.
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