Sino-Pakistan PartnershipUnder the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Burden of Expectations

This book delivers a fair-minded assessment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It is an essential guide to the successes, failures, and implications of this often overhyped but still critically important developmental partnership. By smartly situating CPEC in its broader regional and global context, the book also explains why it matters to Beijing, how it has been received by Washington, and how it fits into their deepening geopolitical competition. Overall, a significant and timely contribution.

- Daniel S. Markey, Ph.D., Senior Advisor, South Asia, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Washington, DC, USA.

This book has come up with the most up-to-date, comprehensive and objective analysis of China's investments in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative. It covers the broad range of Sino-Pakistan relations in the backdrop of Pakistan's complex political, governance, security, socio-environmental and technological challenges that hinder implementation of CPEC projects. Backed by robust empirical evidence, a unique feature of this volume is that it demystifies several myths about CPEC concerning 'debt-trap' narrative, China's 'win-win' proposition and Pakistan's mantra of 'game changer' and 'fate changer'. By examining Chinese infrastructure-building initiative vis-à-vis competing economic initiatives such as the US/G7-led Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment, the Global Gateway strategy of the European Union, and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor of the G20, a distinctive significance of this book is that it aptly situates the implications of China's growing role in Pakistan in broader regional and global context.

Dr Murad Ali is Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Malakand, Pakistan. He obtained his PhD from Massey University (New Zealand) and is a Humboldt fellow. He is the author of 'The Politics of US Aid to Pakistan: aid allocation and delivery from Truman to Trump' (Routledge, 2019).