By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China have agreed to establish a consortium of bilateral and multilateral lenders to finance the $7 billion Mainline-1 (ML-1) railway project and have outlined a four-year plan for the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), focusing on agriculture, industry, and security cooperation, a minister said on Monday.
Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, addressing a news conference, said the agreement was reached during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to China. The consortium will include the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), China, and Pakistan to fund the 1,700-km Karachi-Peshawar railway line.
“China has assured financing not only for ML-1 but also for the Karakoram Highway,” Iqbal said, adding that negotiations with financiers would be finalized within a month. He noted that ML-1 and the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway would have been completed had it not been for the 2018 political shift, alleging the subsequent government of former prime minister Imran Khan “destroyed the process.”
Pakistan and China also agreed on a 2025-2029 action plan to build a “China-Pakistan community with a shared future,” emphasising stronger political trust, trade ties, security cooperation, and people-to-people connections, Iqbal said.
The second phase of CPEC will prioritise agriculture modernisation and industrial development, with opportunities for third-party participation. The Joint Cooperation Council (JCC) of CPEC will meet next on Sept. 26 in Beijing to advance industrial park development tailored to local needs and to promote investment in special economic zones, particularly in Karachi and Islamabad, with preferential policies and a supportive business environment.
Iqbal described the action plan as a “solid development” from leadership-level talks, aimed at deepening strategic cooperation between the “time-tested, friendly countries.” Both nations are committed to leveraging the Framework Agreement on Industrial Cooperation to boost industrialisation, exports, and Chinese investment in Pakistan, including in mining and the development of mining industrial parks.
Cooperation will also extend to crop cultivation, animal husbandry, epidemic control for plants and animals, aquaculture, agro-processing, agricultural mechanisation, and capacity building in seed technology and drip irrigation systems. The plan aligns China’s Belt and Road Initiative with Pakistan’s 5Es Framework, balancing large-scale projects with smaller, community-focused initiatives while prioritising high-quality development and robust security measures.
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