World’s costliest transport structure: China-Pak railway passes feasibility test, threatens US trade lead
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China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has allegedly made substantial progress with the proposed China-Pakistan railway, a transportation project with a startling cost estimate of 400 billion yuan (US$57.7 billion).
The railway, despite the whopping cost, has "the potential to reshape trade and geopolitics across the Eurasian continent," according to a feasibility assessment report published by the state-owned China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group Co Ltd. in April.
PLA government and its "financial institutions should provide strong support, increase coordination and collaboration among relevant domestic departments, strive for the injection of support funds, and provide strong policy support and guarantees for the construction of this project," the analysts said in the report.
The study team stressed the project's potential, justifying substantial support from the Chinese government and financial institutions.
The railway, which will connect Pakistan's Gwadar port to Kashgar in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous province, is slated to be BRI's most expensive transit asset.
By connecting China's western provinces with the Arabian Sea, the 1,860 miles (3,000 km) railway would dodge the Malacca Strait and reduce reliance on the western-dominated trade routes, South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.
Pakistan's economy is expected to benefit from improved infrastructure and easier commerce with China.
While the project faces technical and security obstacles, its route's unique geology and hilly topography could cause problems during construction and operation.
The railway would need auxiliary infrastructure and logistical capabilities, which Pakistan might not have now, combined with potentially uncertain labor laws. The experts also emphasized the railroad's potential effects on nearby nations like India.
How does BRI affect the U.S. trade lead?
According to a report from last year, China was the first to conduct widespread tests of a digital fiat currency, the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) system, and has already established the largest blockchain ecosystem in the world, connected to over 100 city nodes.
Some analysts claim that China has made significant advancements in several emerging technologies giving them an edge to succeed in the railway project.
"China is already leading the world in artificial intelligence, blockchain, 5G, and quantum technology publications and patents," Dale Aluf, Director of Research & Strategy at Sino-Israel Global Network & Academic Leadership (SIGNAL), told ZAWYA news.
"These advancements in technologies," as per Walter Wang, Consulting Director at research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, in Greater China, will allow Beijing "to more efficiently promote the progress of BRI, increase the bonding between China and BRI countries, and push BRI's hard projects."
"Many countries aligned with BRI are rich in solar energy resources but "lack the technologies and resources to construct renewable energy infrastructure," said Wang.
"Through BRI, China can export advanced renewable energy technologies" and earn incentives," he added.
BRI's size and scope "give[s] it [China] the potential to boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by as much as $7.1 trillion by 2040 and reduce global trade costs by up to 2.2 percent, according to the think tank Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
The Belt and Road Initiative, also known as One Belt One Road (OBOR), is China's global infrastructure development project established by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in over 150 countries and international organizations.
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