The China Pakistan economic corridor: progress, opportunities and perils

The China Centre lecture, in association with Cambridge Central Asia Forum and GCRF COMPASS, on Friday 7 February 2020 was delivered by Dr Tayyab Safdar. Dr Safdar's lecture analysed the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

CPEC is by far the largest of China's Belt and Road projects to date. It has attracted a great deal of international media attention, but there has been only a small amount of detailed investigation of CPEC projects.

Dr Safdar's presentation provided a synthesis of his fieldwork-based research in Pakistan. His lecture examined individual CPEC projects including construction of coal-fired power stations and coal mines, Gwadar port and associated infrastructure, and high voltage direct current transmission lines, as well as the prolonged discussion over upgrading the main railway line between Karachi and Lahore, which remains un-modernised since British rule. A central theme of his lecture was the complex interaction between the Chinese government and companies on the one hand and different interest groups within Pakistan on the other.

A lively discussion session addressed each of the key issues raised in Dr Safdar's lecture.

Dr Tayyab Safdar is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge.

Before joining the Centre of Development Studies, Tayyab Safdar was an LSE Fellow at the Department of International Development, London School of Economics. He completed his PhD and MPhil in Development Studies from the Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge where his doctoral research focused on the effects of economic globalisation on agro-industrial value chains in developing countries.