8th meeting of CPEC JCC held in Beijing in last decade of December 2018. Federal Minister for Planning Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar co-chaired the meeting with Chinese Vice Chairman of NDRC Ning Jizhe. Both sides agreed that CPEC has outgrown the neonatal phase and is now mature enough to step into the next chapter of development under which both sides will cooperate in the maritime sector, port development and automobile sector. A symbiotic relation in the form of industrial relocation from China is also under serious consideration. This will harness Pakistan’s export potential and in return the Chinese companies will benefit from Pakistan’s low cost labor and incentives offered by the Government.
The two sides agreed to accelerate the development of Gawadar and its auxiliary projects to ensure that it becomes the next big economic and transshipment hub of the region. Financial documents of 330 MW Thar coal power project was also signed which is a US$ 520 million projected financed by two consortium led by China Development Bank (CDB) and Habib Bank Limited (HBL). HUBCO is 60 percent shareholder and Fauji Fertilizer Company is 30 percent shareholder while and China Machinery Engineering Corporation has 10 percent shares in the project.
The two sides discussed promoting joint ventures. It was agreed upon that development of SEZs will be expedited and mutual cooperation would be diversified to more trade and industrial cooperation, socioeconomic development, agriculture, people-to-people interaction and knowledge sharing.
