Baloch House

A new CPEC Authority aims to take autonomy away from the provinces where the corridor’s key projects will be built, making its environmental consequences even more opaque. 15 hours ago | Atika Rehman and Beth Walker         File Photo: A general view of the port before the inauguration of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor port in Gwadar, Pakistan November 13, 2016. Photo: Reuters/Caren Firouz/File Photo What was once considered the path to prosperity for Pakistan is now a fraught subject. In the past three years, there has been little progress on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), touted by both Beijing and Islamabad as the cornerstone of friendship between the two countries. During the landmark visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pakistan in 2015, China pledged USD 46 billion for a range of energy and infrastructure projects. But the corridor today is nowhere near its goal of boosting industrialisation in Pakistan. The slowdown in recent years has been attributed in

Dmytro Konovalov   October 8, 2020 The Middle East is extremely important to China due to the region’s rich natural resources, strategic geopolitical location and ambitious plans for the development of bricks and mortar as well as high-tech infrastructure. The Middle East is positioned in the centre of the map of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The region spreads over the three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe. Also, it has access to five seas and major maritime byways, the Bosporus, the Dardanelles, Suez, Bab el-Mandeb and the Hormuz Strait.  After the adoption of the BRI in 2013, China’s involvement in the region increased dramatically. Between 2013 and 2019, Chinese investment in the Middle East amounted to approximately US$93.3 billion. More than half of the funds have been allocated to the energy sector. The remaining portion has been invested in real estate, transportation and utilities.  Also, China is the largest trading partner for Middle Eastern economies. According to