China open to CPEC projects’ adjustment

BEIJING: China is open to necessary adjustments of projects under the CPEC, based on the interests of the two countries, but China's bilateral cooperation to this effect will undoubtedly continue in the future, experts and officials said.

The comments came after a Financial Times report saying that the East Coast Rail Link, a flagship project under the B&R initiative in Malaysia, is being reviewed. Pakistan has also established a nine-member committee to review the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, another major part of the B&R initiative, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday.

"It's normal and understandable that development focus can change at different stages in different countries, especially with changes in government. So China can also make some strategic adjustments when cooperating with these countries, but it's definitely not a reconsideration of the CPEC or B&R initiative," Wang Jun, an official of China Center for International Economic Exchanges said.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also stressed on various occasions that further cooperation plans under the B&R initiative will continue in the future, and all the adjustments are based on friendly consultation between different sides.

The Wall Street Journal said that Pakistan wanted China to establish more factories and poverty-alleviation initiatives instead of just big infrastructure programs. Wang noted that Pakistan's demands are within the cooperation scope of the B&R initiative and China has experience in areas such as the manufacturing sector and the establishment of industrial parks.

However, Chen Fengying, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, told the Global Times that development of the manufacturing sector cannot be achieved without a strong infrastructure base.