China increasing participation in Pakistan uplift projects
The number of Chinese engineers based in Pakistan have surged to 10,000 this year from 3,000 in 2008 working on 120 projects in different sectors of the economy. China has been increasing its involvement in projects in Pakistan by planning more activities for the future.
China is involved in a 750-kilometer railway linking the two countries from Havelian to the 4,730-meter high Khunjerab Pass in Gilgit-Baltistan, the area which has been elevated to the status of province recently. Havelian is linked with the rest of the rail network in Pakistan and the Chinese will lay track within its territory up to Khunjerab.
Analysts said that China is increasingly interesting in investing in Gilgit-Baltistan and in Pakistan's south-west where China is already involved in large development projects including Gwadar port, 7000 MW Bunji Dam in Gilgit-Baltistan, Lahore Mass Transit Bus System and Chashma Nuclear Plants I and II, JF-17 fighter jet to name a few.
A proposed Pakistan-China energy and trade corridor involving gas and oil pipelines and a rail link would start in Gwadar and enter China's Xinjiang region after running through the Gilgit-Baltistan region.
China's determination to maintain its interest in Pakistan was underlined recently by Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Lou Zhaohui who told the media in Islamabad that "We are committed to complete all the projects on which Chinese are working."
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