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ESSAY
The CPEC is a 3,000-kilometre network of roads, railways and pipelines to transport oil and
gas from Gwadar Port to Kashgar city, northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region,
China Daily reports. China and Pakistan have agreed to build One Belt One Road project more
commonly known as China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is expected to bring about both peace and
prosperity in South Asia. This corridor will link between Kashgar in north-western China to Pakistan's
Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea near the border with Iran via roads, railways and pipelines. There are
many internal and external challenges for Pakistan government to implement this multi-dollars
project. However, it is a game changer project which will transforn1 the fate of Pakistan and will help
Pakistan modernize. It will improve the economy and trade, enhance regional connectivity, overcome
energy crises, develop infrastructure and establish people to people contacts in both the countries.
Proposed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during his visit to Pakistan in May 2013, the CPEC
will act as a bridge for the new Maritime Silk Route that envisages linking three billion people in
Asia, Africa and Europe.
The project links China's strategy to develop its western region with Pakistan's focus on
boosting its economy, including the infrastructure construction of Gwadar Port, together with some
energy cooperation and investment programmes. It also involves road and railway construction
including an upgrade of the 1,300-km Karakoram Highway, the highest paved international road in the
world which connects China and Pakistan across the Karakoram mountains.
The CPEC will reduce China's routes of oil and gas imports from Africa and the Middle East
by thousands of kilometres, making Gwadar a potentially vital link in China's supply chain.
With the support of China, Pakistan has gained significant importance not only in the region
but the entire world. In recent years, both China and Pakistan have been making concerted efforts to
revive the historic Silk Road which is one of the oldest known trade route in the world and will
provide a route for trade from Kashgar (China) to Gwadar (Pakistan). China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor plan will help Pakistan to become one of the most strategically important countries in the
region. It will also provide an opportunity to China to build a naval base on Gwadar port that will
increase influence of China in the region and also counter US influence in the Asia-Pacific region. The
CBS News quoted some Western diplomats on Pakistan-China partnership. According to them,
China's increasing economic engagement with Pakistan should be seen in the context of Beijing's
"efforts to counter the US efforts to deepen alliances around the Asia-Pacific region."
The "One Belt One Road" concept has international strategic importance. The One Belt One
Road initiative covers countries and regions with a total population of 4.4 billion and a total economic
volume of US$ 21 trillion, 63 % and 29 %, respectively of the World.
According to the assessment of the Corridor, the plan is involved in laying the foundation for
regional cooperation, improving economic growth, offering trade diversifications, investing in
transportation, mining and energy sectors and creating political flexibility. It is a vision with world-.
changing implications, an unfolding plan that would weave much of Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania
and the Middle East much more closely together through a patchwork of diplomacy, new
infi\structure and free trade zones.
The "One Belt one Road" Project consists of three routes, southern, central and northern route. The
southern corridor bogins from Guangzhou, which is the third largest city of China in South Central