BEIJING: Pakistan and China on Saturday formally launched the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), pledging to expand the $62 billion infrastructure plan into new areas including technology, innovation and people-centred development.
The announcement came after the 14th meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) on CPEC in Beijing, where Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal described the new phase as a “People’s Corridor of Prosperity”.
The minister said CPEC Phase II would align with Pakistan’s “Five Es Framework” – exports, equity, environment, energy and e-governance – aimed at transforming the South Asian country into a $1 trillion economy by 2035.
“The first decade of CPEC built Pakistan’s infrastructure. The next will transform lives — creating jobs, skills, and innovation,” Iqbal told reporters in Beijing.
Under the new roadmap, both countries agreed to create five specialised “corridors” – growth, livelihoods, innovation, green development, and regional connectivity – which will steer future cooperation. These include technology hubs, climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy projects, and expanded trade routes linking Pakistan with Central Asia.
Education and youth development are central to the plans. Pakistan has proposed sending 10,000 PhD scholars to top Chinese universities over the next decade in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics and emerging sciences. Joint laboratories in quantum computing and AI are also under consideration.
Iqbal said Pakistan would expand vocational training in partnership with Chinese institutions, while climate cooperation would focus on renewable power and sustainable farming to reduce the impact of repeated floods.
China has invested nearly $27 billion in CPEC since its launch in 2013, financing highways, power plants and the Gwadar port in Balochistan. According to Pakistani officials, Phase I created around 200,000 jobs and added 8,900 megawatts of electricity to the grid.
The second phase, Iqbal said, would move beyond government-to-government projects to attract private and business-to-business investment. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing produced $8.5 billion worth of agreements, signalling stronger Chinese interest in Pakistan’s industrial and digital sectors.
Iqbal stressed Pakistan’s commitment to the safety of Chinese nationals working on CPEC projects, calling them “guests treated like family”. He blamed “foreign-sponsored elements” for past attacks on Chinese workers and vowed that both countries would “defeat such designs together”.
“CPEC is not only about roads and power, it is about hope, inclusion and a shared future,” he said. “Our friendship with China has never seen an autumn; it has always blossomed like spring.”
The minister proposed that the next JCC meeting be held in May 2026 in Islamabad, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
