Pak-China Strategic Partnership

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s two-day visit to China (01-02 November) took place in an unusual circumstance when the Ukraine war still rages on, the U.S. is doggedly trying to ratchet up tensions against China in the Asia-Pacific region, and the renewed cold war seems a plausibility. However, times have changed since the U.S. emerged as the number one power in the world. The U.S. dominance has forced the smaller and weaker nations to rethink their alignment with the unipolar hegemonistic power’s agenda, which is only disturbing world peace and economic problems.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to strengthen the strategic partnership between Islamabad and Beijing and multilateral cooperation in various areas, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The two sides agreed on the importance of a China-Pakistan “All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership amidst the emerging global challenges.”

This has been PM Shahbaz’s first official visit to China since he became premier in April this year. He is among the first world leaders to visit China following the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that re-elected Xi Jinping as the party’s general secretary last month.

During the delegation-level talks, the leaders “reaffirmed that close strategic ties and profound friendship between China and Pakistan were time-tested and resilient.” The Joint Statement reiterated that “Pakistan-China friendship is a historic choice of both peoples that serves the interests of the two countries.” The Chinese side reiterated that relations with Pakistan will “always be given the highest priority in its foreign policy.” The Pakistani side underscored that the Pakistan-China relationship is the “cornerstone of its foreign policy and that the Pakistani people always support the closest friendship between the two countries.”

Both sides reiterated their mutual support on issues concerning each other’s core interests. The Pakistani side expressed its commitment to the one-China Policy and support on Taiwan, South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet issues. The Chinese side reaffirmed its support for Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security, promoting its socio-economic development and prosperity. PM Shahbaz Sharif brought up Jammu and Kashmir and updated the Chinese side on the current situation. The Chinese side “called for a peaceful resolution of the issue while taking into account the U.N. Charter, relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, and bilateral agreements.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed appreciation for the timely and generous assistance extended by the government and people of China, including the provision of disaster relief supplies, the contributions of Chinese expert teams on post-disaster assessment and health care to assist with damage assessment, experience sharing in post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation, and post-disaster disease response to step up capacity of medical treatment. China’s mobilization of assistance was a vivid reflection of the time-tested All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between the two countries.

On the economic side, China displayed exemplary comradeship by rescheduling approximately $8.75 billion in loans. Media reports quoted Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as saying that “the Chinese leadership promised to roll over $4 billion in sovereign loans, refinance $3.3 billion commercial bank loans and increase currency swap by about $1.45 billion — from 30 billion yuan to 40 billion yuan.

The ever-growing cooperation between the two countries can be gauged from the scores of agreements the two countries signed covering bilateral cooperation in areas of e-commerce, digital economy, export of agricultural products, financial cooperation, protection of cultural property, infrastructure, flood relief, post-disaster reconstruction, Global Development Initiative (GDI), animal disease control, livelihood, cultural cooperation, space, geosciences as well as law enforcement and security.

The visit was a manifestation of decades-old trust that the two neighbouring countries have developed despite enormous changes at the international level. According to the Joint Statement issued at the end of the visit, both sides expressed their determination “to counter all threats and designs against CPEC and Pakistan-China friendship.” While Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to the “safety and security of all Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan”, the Chinese side “appreciated Pakistan’s strong determination and vigorous measures in this regard.”

The Joint Statement also allayed the criticism about the “closed nature of the CPEC project”. It made it clear that the two sides, based on the recent meeting of the CPEC Joint Working Group on International Cooperation and Coordination (ICC), had highlighted that “CPEC was an open and inclusive platform.” Both sides “welcomed interested third parties to benefit from investment opportunities in the priority areas of CPEC cooperation such as industry, agriculture, I.T., science and technology, and oil and gas.”

Since the first phase of CPEC projects has been completed or is near completion, the two countries have embarked upon the second phase, which is about industrialization or Special Economic Zones (SEZ) along the CPEC route. Therefore, despite the American and Indian opposition, both countries have assiduously worked on completing these projects. Indeed, there has been slackness on Pakistan’s part due to a lack of trained manpower to run the SEZs. This issue is now addressed with the Chinese help, and, where necessary, training is imparted to the Pakistani workforce.

Under the CPEC, 47 projects have been completed or nearing completion, with a total Chinese investment of more than $25 billion; 150,000 jobs have also been created. The agreement to initiate the ML-1 rail project is a reiteration of the Chinese commitment towards comprehensive cooperation with Pakistan in the development of industry, agriculture, science and technology to serve Pakistan’s industrialization better and enhance its export competitiveness.

China has been assisting Pakistan in developing the country’s industrial base and enhancing Pakistan’s exports. In doing so, China has also opened up its markets. According to the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, Nong Rong, “Pakistan’s exports to China are expected to exceed $4 billion this year.” Among them, agriculture serves as an emerging growth area. Ambassador Rong said, “Pakistan’s agricultural trade surplus with China reached $640 million last year, a 13-time increase year-on-year.”

There is no doubt the friendship between Pakistan and China nurtured during the past seven decades has grown into a formidable strategic partnership which has stood the test of time. The unique feature of this partnership is that it is not intended against a third country but a factor of stability for the region and beyond.

The writer is a former Ambassador of Pakistan to Iran and UAE and is currently the Senior Research Fellow at IPRI