Gwadar Port - the bright pearl of CPEC.

• Author: Ashley
• Position: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Byline: Ashley

Among the South Asian countries, Pakistan enjoys a special status as a traditional friendly neighbor of China and an all-weather strategic partner. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is an important milestone in the history of China-Pakistan friendship and a model project among the six major economic corridors of the 'Belt and Road'. It plays an important leading role in the integration of regional cooperation and economic integration. With the joint efforts of the builders of China and Pakistan, the Gwadar Port has become a bright pearl of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Gwadar Port is located on the southwest coast of Balochistan of Pakistan, south of the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean, and about 460 km from east of Karachi, 120 km from west of the Pakistan-Iran border. It is located near the Persian Gulf that has important strategic significance. It is the throat of several important sea routes from Africa, Europe through the Red Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf to East Asia and the Pacific.

Gwadar Port is an important port of Pakistan, and occupies an important geographical position in China's overseas strategy in the Indian Ocean. Before the opening of the Gwadar Port route, Chinese shipping vessels must travel to the Indian Ocean from the Straits of Malacca, which is jointly administered by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Now, the opening of Gwadar Port has directly solved China's trade shackles on the west coast of the Pacific. The time for shipping goods from China to Middle East and Africa shorten more than a month, which will bring more trade opportunities to the western region of China.

Historical evolution

The Pakistani government and people have long imagined the development of Gwadar Port. As early as 1964, the Pakistani government had this idea and signed the Guabang Investment Agreement with the United States in the 1990s. However, this plan had failed due to various factors. Singapore has also obtained the right to operate this port, but it has not been started for ten years. Until 2001, at the invitation of the Pakistani government, China decided to help build Gwadar Port. So far, the development of Gwadar Port has been implemented.. The first phase of this project was completed in 2005, and a multi-purpose terminal with three 20,000-ton berths was built.

In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pakistan. China and Pakistan agreed to take the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as the guide and focus on Gwadar Port, energy, transportation infrastructure and...