China enhances investment in Pakistan despite security concerns

Chinese delegation meets Chief Minister of Sindh province – (Photo: Sindh Information Department)

By Nasir Aijaz
The AsiaN Representative

ISLAMABAD: Despite security threats to its nationals, China is determined to increase investments in new projects in Pakistan besides continuing the on-going projects under CEPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor).

To explore the new venues of investment, a high-powered delegation of 12 major companies of China recently visited the Special Economic Zone near Karachi in Southern Sindh province of Pakistan and held meetings with government officials.

The Chinese delegation held meetings with Chief Minister of Sindh province Syed Murad Ali Shah and his Special Assistant on Investment Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar, and other senior officials of provincial government and business leaders.

Chinese companies are particularly interested in investing in cargo, electric vehicles, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, food and beverages, solar and wind energy, livestock, agriculture and other sectors in Sindh.

The Special Economic Zone, located at Dhabeji area near Karachi, the coastal city and capital of the province, is a priority project of CPEC. An investment of one billion dollars is expected to be made to establish a medical city in Dhabeji Zone. The Chinese delegation expressed deep interest in establishing a medical city worth one billion dollars in the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone.

Due to its prime location, the Dhabeji Zone will lead to industrial development, technology transfer and employment opportunities.

The Chinese delegation also expressed keen interest in setting up factories for solar plates, solar inverters and solar batteries along with a factory to make fertilizers using coal instead of gas, in collaboration with local partners.

The land has been allocated for all kinds of industrial, commercial and residential facilities in Dhabeji Special Economic Zone.

A complete introductory video about Dhabeji Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was shown in the meeting and Secretary Investment Sindh Raja Khurram Shahzad gave a briefing about Dhabeji SEZ.

Another delegation of five major Chinese companies also visited the Special Economic Zone and held meetings to finalize the Memorandums of Understanding for investing in projects worth one billion dollars.

These companies included senior officials of the Guangzhou Baishengxiang Electronics Company Ltd. from the construction sector; Nanjing Gelking Construction Engineering Company Ltd. from the trade and business sector; China HK Gelking International Trading Company Ltd. from the electronics sector; Guangzhou Masai Electronic Products Company Ltd and from the energy sector; Jiangsu Yupeng Energy Group Company Ltd.

The Chinese delegation was also briefed in detail about Karachi Marble City and the proposed economic zone at Ganju Takkar in Hyderabad, another important city of the province.

Later, the Chinese and Pakistani officials signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for five projects in transport, health, energy, and agriculture in Karachi, with support from the Sindh government. The agreements include local assembly of electric cars, local manufacturing of solar panels, production of slow-release fertilizers, algae farming, and the establishment of a medical city in the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone.

Meanwhile, Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), in a statement said that the proposed grand medical city will be collectively developed by 35 Chinese business groups listed on the Chinese Stock Exchange – aiming to upgrade Pakistan’s healthcare system to make it at par with international standards.

Mr. Meng Xiao Wei, President of China – Pakistan Research and Innovation Enterprises Alliance, who held a meeting with FPCCI officials, said that the project will include manufacturing facilities for medical equipment; a world-class medical college; training programs and other healthcare-related businesses. With an investment of over $1 billion and a timeline of three years, the initiative is expected to generate over 50,000 jobs in Pakistan. The project will also have support of the Pakistan – China Medical Association.

The place near Karachi airport where Chinese engineers were attacked (Ssocial media)

Security Concerns

Since the launch of CPEC in 2015, under which a 65-billion-dollar investment is to be made in various projects as part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to expand China’s global reach by road, rail and sea, the security concerns of the Chinese workforce in Pakistan has been a major issue.

At a recent meeting of Pakistan’s National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Director, National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Colonel Usman briefed the lawmakers that since 2021, there have been 14 terrorist attacks targeting Chinese citizens in the country, resulting in 20 Chinese personnel killed and 34 injured.

According to the report, eight of the attacks took place in Sindh province, four in Balochistan, and two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Eight Pakistanis were also killed and 25 injured in these attacks.

The NACTA Director informed the committee that a total of 20,000 Chinese nationals are settled in Pakistan, including those working on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

He noted that while the BLA (Baloch Liberation Army) and other terrorist groups, including anti-state elements, were responsible for attacks targeting non-CPEC projects and Chinese citizens in transit, there had been no direct terrorist attack on CPEC projects so far.

Regarding safety measures for Chinese nationals, the NACTA Director highlighted that a high-level core group was formed within the Pakistani interior ministry, comprising representatives from the police, security forces, intelligence agencies, and other departments. Additionally, two Pakistan Army corps have been deployed specifically for CPEC security.

A security cell has reportedly been established at the Chinese embassy to maintain contact, while the military looks after CPEC project security in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Meanwhile, certain reports suggest that China has sent a task force to Pakistan following the latest terrorist attack and has urged the authorities to step up security measures and ensure the safety of Chinese citizens and projects.

The group in Islamabad met the heads of Pakistan’s foreign and interior ministries as well as of the police, armed forces and intelligence services.

According to media reports, Beijing is pushing Pakistan to allow its own security staff to provide protection to thousands of Chinese citizens working in the South Asian nation, during talks after a car bombing in Karachi that was seen as a major security breach.

A foreign media report says that the attacks, and Islamabad’s failure to deter them, have angered China, which has pushed Pakistan to begin formal negotiations for a joint security management system.

Neither Beijing nor Islamabad confirmed the talks officially.

In October last, the airport bombing in Karachi that killed two Chinese engineers returning to work on a project after a holiday in Thailand was the latest in a string of attacks on Beijing’s interests in Pakistan. A local security guard at a factory in Karachi also shot and injured two Chinese nationals.

Earlier this year, five Chinese nationals working on the Dasu dam project lost their lives in a suicide bombing in Bisham in March.

In April 2022, a suicide attack inside the University of Karachi’s Confucius Institute claimed the lives of at least four people, including three Chinese nationals, while injuring four others. The BLA claimed responsibility for the attack.

The most significant attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan since 2021 occurred in July 2021, when at least 12 people, including nine Chinese engineers and two Frontier Corps personnel, were killed in an attack on a bus near the Dasu hydropower plant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper Kohistan district.