Pakistan Seeks $9 Billion In Further Loans From China To Fund Projects

Pakistan on Tuesday (5 November) has requested China for further a $9 billion loan to finance the road and infrastructure projects under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), reports Times Of India.

The two sides have approved the Gwadar smart city master plan at the conclusion of the ninth Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting of CPEC and two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed on health and trade.

Both sides also inaugurated 392 km Multan-Sukkur Motorway completed with a funding worth (Pakistani Rupee) Rs 294 billion from China.

Pakistan's Planning Minister Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar and China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Vice Chairman Ning Jizhe co-chaired the JCC.

Bakhtyar said, “The recent visits of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his interaction with Chinese leadership has, in true sense, broadened and enhanced the scope of future cooperation in diverse fields of agriculture, industrial and socio-economic development.”

Pakistan and China also discussed the fencing of its border with Iran and Afghanistan and Bakhtyar said, “Pakistan's security situation could not be 100pc in our hands until these borders remain porous.”

The head of Chinese delegation Ning Jizhe said that both sides have reached important consensus over bilateral cooperation and CPEC has achieved some remarkable achievements for high-quality development and achieve more pragmatic results under CPEC.