China urges Pakistan to help maintain trust after new government hints at rethink over economic corridor
Xi Jinping makes comments after meeting army chief of staff after new government takes another look at infrastructure projects
China has urged Pakistan to help maintain mutual trust and ensure the smooth development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a project that has been criticised in the South Asian nation for the levels of debt it has incurred as a result.
President Xi Jinping made the comments in a meeting with General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Pakistani army’s chief of staff, following reports that Pakistan might rethink the US$62 billion project.
“China and Pakistan should … firmly support each other’s core interests,” Xi said to Bajwa.
Bajwa started a three-day trip to Beijing on Wednesday, making him the first senior Pakistani official to visit since the inauguration of a new government in August.
The economic corridor consists of a series of Chinese-funded infrastructure projects – including the expansion of Gwadar port, roads and railways linking China’s restive western province of Xinjiang to the Arabian Sea – and a number of power plants and industrial development plans.
Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan has established a nine-member committee to evaluate the projects, and his commerce adviser Abdul Razak Dawood has questioned whether the deals worked to Pakistan’s advantage.
