President Xi Jinping’s trip to Pakistan next week is expected to focus on the corridor, a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking Pakistan’s deepwater Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea with China’s far-western Xinjiang region.
It would shorten the route for China’s energy imports, bypassing the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, a bottleneck at risk of blockade in wartime.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao said the project would be good for Pakistan’s economic development, but would not be drawn on financing details.
“Several different facets will be utilised for the financing of these projects. Both sides will increase cooperation, to jointly provide financing support,” he told a news briefing.
“As to whether the AIIB or the Silk Road fund will be used, at present these (projects) are being looked into, or are in the planning stages. So at the moment we are not considering using these mechanisms or platforms or financial organisations to provide financing,” Liu said.
“The money needed is quite large, and China is willing to provide financing support to Pakistan,” he added, saying details would be released during the visit.
China announced last year it would contribute $40 billion to set up the Silk Road infrastructure fund to boost connectivity across Asia. The Beijing-founded AIIB will also invest in regional infrastructure. -Reuters
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