Pak-China expand ties across sectors

President Asif Zardari’s week-long visit to China is widely interpreted as a fresh push by Pakistan to recalibrate its “all-weather” partnership around hard economic priorities, with investment, industrial cooperation, and technology transfer taking centre stage. Beyond that, the visit signals the start of a new phase in bilateral ties, with provinces stepping forward to serve as key engines of trade, investment and technology transfer. With Pakistan seeking investments, joint ventures, and technology partnerships with China to stabilise its fragile economy, the presidential trip was aimed at attracting Chinese investment, expanding trade, and accelerating industrial cooperation. He is said to have focused beyond infrastructure on industrial zones, agriculture modernisation, and technological collaboration under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) 2.0. Further, the visit carried a defence dimension. ‘There appears to be a deliberate shift towards sub-national diplomacy, where provinces act as engines of trade, investment and technology transfer’ In the port city of Sanya, President Zardari attended the commissioning ceremony of the first of eight Chinese-built Hangor-class submarines for the Pakistan Navy. He described the development as a “historic milestone,” reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to maritime security and continued defence collaboration with Beijing. The visit underlines a change in Islamabad’s approach towards economic ties with Beijing. Moving beyond headline infrastructure, both sides seem to be looking to deepen the next phase of CPEC, the flagship project of the Beijing-led multinational Belt and Road Initiative, through collaboration in manufacturing, clean energy, agriculture and emerging sectors such as electric vehicles and artificial intelligence. The countries share a longstanding strategic cooperative partnership, and Beijing has invested an estimated $25.9 billion in large transport and energy projects under the CPEC initiative. Pr