China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: A French perspective.

Byline: Raphael Lissillour

The Chinese embassy in Paris introduces the economic corridors as the being the "first chapter of the One Belt One Road symphony," thus putting the accent on the way it will contribute to harmony in south Asia. Two economic corridors are cited, namely the the "Steppes Road" connecting China with Mongolia and Russia, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). If a constructivist analysis of the norms and values promoted by Peking may provide some insights on the credibility and diffusion of the Chinese credo, it seems a realist perspective it more justified in this context.

Chinese foreign policy is better understood as a tool to develop an international environment able to contribute to its economic expansion and to prevent containment. Such grand strategy is elaborated and enacted with "instrumental rationality," thus systematically looking at getting asymmetric relative gain.

This paper will review the diplomatic style which characterizes the Chinese foreign policy before analyzing more closely the general framework within which the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project unfolds. It is argued that the CPEC responds to both internal and external rationales, whereas external factors such as balancing India and optimizing oil import seem to prevail. This paper intends to provide a textual analysis on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor relying on French resources.

It does not have the ambition to reflect the general opinion of the French people, neither to reveal the current official voice of the French government, but rather relies on a textual analysis of documents published in French language, either by the government, the academia, or the press. Recent articles from influential French newspapers, namely Le Monde, RFI, L'Opinion, and Courrier International, have been selected and analyzed. The information provided by the press has been crossed with texts published by the French government and by prominent French research centers, such as Asia Centre and the National Center of Scientific Research. In the meantime, foreign literature is also included in the analysis to contextualize and contrast the French literature.

The French ministry of Economy and Finance stresses that despite the implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of Pakistan remains weak, less than 1% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But this figure will be likely to change when the CPEC will really take shape, which will further reassure China of the viability of its investment. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project foresees a global investment of 46 billion dollars into Pakistan, within which 36 will be invested into the energetic sector.

According to the French Ministry of Economics and Finance, the main factor that explains the weak FDI is the lack of attractiveness of Pakistan, notably because of the uncertainty linked to its political and economic instability, which in turn has a negative impact on the assessment of rating companies. Le Monde reminded also that the previous symbols of the Sino-Pakistani cooperation such as Karakorum road, which has been inaugurated in the 80's, and Gwadar harbor, inaugurated in 2007, had so far not brought the successful economic reward which were expected.

This illustrates that, according to Confucian traditional values, the rational of the Chinese foreign policy for Pakistan is not quick financial return, rather a long term project in line with key concerns which structure its foreign policy. According to Ducha^tel and Racine from French research center Asia Centre, Pakistan benefit from a key position in South Asia which can be instrumental in securing an environment favorable to Chinese geopolitical and economic development.

Indeed, Pakistan could contribute to...