China will support Pakistan undeterred in an attempt to balance the latter’s financial condition, President Xi Jinping was quoted by the state media as saying. The statement came while Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was on a visit to Beijing.
Pakistan had been struggling hard in an economic crisis even before the destructive floods wreak havoc in the country that has caused it over $30 billion in losses. Pakistan sought debt support from China, especially bilateral debt of around $23 billion.
China’s central bank and the National Bank of Pakistan have signed a memorandum of cooperation recently. This was done to establish RMB clearing arrangements in Pakistan. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said on Wednesday that the arrangement could facilitate the use of RMB for cross-border transactions by enterprises and financial institutions in both countries.
China To Export Technology For High-Speed Railway to Pakistan
During their talk, Chinese President Xi told Sharif that the countries should move forward more effectively with the construction of their economic corridor and accelerate the construction of infrastructure for the Gwadar Sea Port.
“The countries should work together to create conditions for the early implementation of the Mainline-1 (ML-1) railway upgrading project and the Karachi Circular Railway project,” Xi added.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said, “China will export technology for a 160 km/h high-speed railway train to Pakistan.” According to reports, the first batch of 46 train carriages has been prepared and will be shipped on November 3.
According to the report, Pakistan will receive the components for another 184 carriages, which will then be put together, marking the first time China has exported the technology.
The development works and other projects in Pakistan, which is a longtime Chinese partner, come under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to connect China’s road, rail, and sea routes with the rest of the world.
