Chinese investment mushrooms in Pakistan

INTERNATIONAL DESK: In continuation of China’s debt-diplomacy with Pakistan, a Chinese company Yutong Bus, a large-scale modern Chinese manufacturing company specialising in bus production, has accepted the offer to set up a public transport plant in Sindh.

The plant would either be set up in Karachi or Hyderabad. It is to be constructed on 15 to 18 acres of land. Libijian, Consulate General of China to Karachi, in a tweet wrote, “Great news and congratulations! Yutong Bus for setting up transport plant in Karachi or Hyderabad.”

The development took place during a meeting between Provincial Minister for Transport Sharjeel Inam Memon and Paul Zhang, Country Manager of Yutong Bus China. Zhang was also accompanied by Service Head Yutong Wayner Wang, China Economic Net (CEN) reported.

“The meeting agreed to prepare a concrete proposal in this regard by next week,” according to a statement.

“The transport department is making every effort to attract foreign investors to set up a public transport plant in Sindh”, according to the provincial minister.

Meanwhile, Chinese debt-trap diplomacy could eventually exploit the textile industry in Pakistan to reap by proxy the benefit of the European Union’s GSP+ which benefits Islamabad from zero duty on several products.

Pakistan may fall into a debt trap like Sri Lanka owing to its economic ties with China.

Pakistan’s already fragile economy suffered another setback when recently China demanded repayment, by November 2023, of USD 55.6 million for the Lahore Orange Line Project, an Italian publication, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported.

Meanwhile, at the end of March, the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan fell by a massive USD 2.915 billion, due to the repayment of external debt. Thus, Pakistan faces a bleak economic future in as far as relations with China are concerned.

The Chinese company, China-Railway North Industries Corporation (CR-NORINCO) which completed the Lahore Orange Line Project in 2020 has demanded from the Punjab Mass Transit Authority, an outstanding sum of USD 45.3 million by the end of March 2023 and the remaining outstanding USD 10.5 million by the end of the year. CR-NORINCO has insisted that all dues be repaid before the expiry of the contract on 16 November 2023, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported.

China has made a hard bargain with Pakistan when it comes to paybacks on its loans and other investments in Pakistan. In the fiscal year 2021-2022, Pakistan paid around USD 150 million towards interest to China for using a USD 4.5 billion Chinese trade finance facility. In the financial year 2019-2020, Pakistan paid USD 120 million towards interest on a USD 3 billion loan.

The Chinese demand for the Lahore Line payment was made in the first week of April 2022 when the new political dispensation under PM Shahbaz Sharif had just stepped into office. Earlier, at the beginning of March 2022, China acceded to Pakistan’s request to roll over a whopping USD 4.2 billion debt repayment to provide a major relief for its all-weather ally.

China has been quite stringent in recovering money from Pakistan. Take Pakistan’s energy sector for instance, where Chinese investors have repeatedly insisted on resolving issues relating to existing project sponsors in order to attract fresh investment. Some Chinese projects in Pakistan are facing problems in securing insurance for their loans in China due to Pakistan’s massive energy sector circular debt of about USD 14 billion, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported.

Pakistan has to pay around USD 1.3 billion to Chinese power producers and so far only USD 280 million has been paid. Another example of hard bargaining by China over monetary dealings vis-a-vis Pakistan is well documented in the case of the Dasu Dam Project.

Last year, China demanded USD 38 million towards compensation for the families of 36 engineers who had died in the Dasu Dam terror attack. Compensation was made a precondition for the resumption of work on the project. To placate China, Pakistan subsequently agreed to pay USD 11.6 million as compensation.

Pakistan’s fundamental challenge is that its economy is sinking and needs an infusion of funds to survive. While China is heavily responsible for Pakistan’s debt problem, it is the mishandling of Pakistan’s economy by successive governments that have led to the current impasse.

The plant would either be set up in Karachi or Hyderabad. It is to be constructed on 15 to 18 acres of land. Libijian, Consulate General of China to Karachi, in a tweet wrote, “Great news and congratulations! Yutong Bus for setting up transport plant in Karachi or Hyderabad.”

The development took place during a meeting between Provincial Minister for Transport Sharjeel Inam Memon and Paul Zhang, Country Manager of Yutong Bus China. Zhang was also accompanied by Service Head Yutong Wayner Wang, China Economic Net (CEN) reported.

“The meeting agreed to prepare a concrete proposal in this regard by next week,” according to a statement.

“The transport department is making every effort to attract foreign investors to set up a public transport plant in Sindh”, according to the provincial minister.

Meanwhile, Chinese debt-trap diplomacy could eventually exploit the textile industry in Pakistan to reap by proxy the benefit of the European Union’s GSP+ which benefits Islamabad from zero duty on several products.

Pakistan may fall into a debt trap like Sri Lanka owing to its economic ties with China.

Pakistan’s already fragile economy suffered another setback when recently China demanded repayment, by November 2023, of USD 55.6 million for the Lahore Orange Line Project, an Italian publication, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported.

Meanwhile, at the end of March, the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan fell by a massive USD 2.915 billion, due to the repayment of external debt. Thus, Pakistan faces a bleak economic future in as far as relations with China are concerned.

The Chinese company, China-Railway North Industries Corporation (CR-NORINCO) which completed the Lahore Orange Line Project in 2020 has demanded from the Punjab Mass Transit Authority, an outstanding sum of USD 45.3 million by the end of March 2023 and the remaining outstanding USD 10.5 million by the end of the year. CR-NORINCO has insisted that all dues be repaid before the expiry of the contract on 16 November 2023, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported.

China has made a hard bargain with Pakistan when it comes to paybacks on its loans and other investments in Pakistan. In the fiscal year 2021-2022, Pakistan paid around USD 150 million towards interest to China for using a USD 4.5 billion Chinese trade finance facility. In the financial year 2019-2020, Pakistan paid USD 120 million towards interest on a USD 3 billion loan.

The Chinese demand for the Lahore Line payment was made in the first week of April 2022 when the new political dispensation under PM Shahbaz Sharif had just stepped into office. Earlier, at the beginning of March 2022, China acceded to Pakistan’s request to roll over a whopping USD 4.2 billion debt repayment to provide a major relief for its all-weather ally.

China has been quite stringent in recovering money from Pakistan. Take Pakistan’s energy sector for instance, where Chinese investors have repeatedly insisted on resolving issues relating to existing project sponsors in order to attract fresh investment. Some Chinese projects in Pakistan are facing problems in securing insurance for their loans in China due to Pakistan’s massive energy sector circular debt of about USD 14 billion, Osservatorio Globalizzazione reported.

Pakistan has to pay around USD 1.3 billion to Chinese power producers and so far only USD 280 million has been paid. Another example of hard bargaining by China over monetary dealings vis-a-vis Pakistan is well documented in the case of the Dasu Dam Project.

Last year, China demanded USD 38 million towards compensation for the families of 36 engineers who had died in the Dasu Dam terror attack. Compensation was made a precondition for the resumption of work on the project. To placate China, Pakistan subsequently agreed to pay USD 11.6 million as compensation.

Pakistan’s fundamental challenge is that its economy is sinking and needs an infusion of funds to survive. While China is heavily responsible for Pakistan’s debt problem, it is the mishandling of Pakistan’s economy by successive governments that have led to the current impasse. (ANI)