Pakistan has found a new best friend in China! At least the investment numbers say so

For a long time, US used to be the largest direct foreign investor in Pakistan but slowly, China has been displacing it from this position. In turn, Pakistan has been showing incessant support for China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ trade route, a project worth billions of dollars that would revamp old infrastructure.

Over the time, we have seen the relations between the US and Pakistan going haywire and in the meantime, China has been working on its ties with the bordering nation. Comparing the investments from both countries, Pakistan saw direct investment of $505 million from US in the period from July 2013 to January 2017, while China’s investment stands at $1.82 billion, says data from central bank.

It was about two years ago that China had pledged $55 billion worth of investment in a so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

"As the US looks inward, China is reaching out," Bilal Khan, a senior economist at Standard Chartered Plc in Karachi told Bloomberg. "Against this backdrop, the US could steadily loose its share in FDI to Pakistan as China's rises."

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has planned to boost the country’s economic growth to the highest in about a decade, and allying with China is a part of this plan. The Chinese, in turn, get to revive trade across Central Asia and into Europe via a network of railways, ports and highways through this Silk Road plan.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor lies "right at the crossroad, of two major networks China is building" said Chen Fengying, an expert on global economy with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

Talking of the corporate world, a record 77 Chinese companies have registered in Pakistan over the last three years, as per data from the Securities and Exchange Commission in Islamabad.

Pakistan is the only country that China calls an ‘all-weather strategic partner’, possibly hinting at its unconditional support under all conditions.

Talking of US-Pakistan relations, the two countries are moving further apart.

Also read: China to fund weapon building in Pakistan

"It is moving slowly down," said Shaista Tabassum, chairwoman of the international relations department at the University of Karachi. "CPEC has many economic benefits coming, which Pakistan expected the United States should have given to it."

The reasons behind these tensed relations could be found in Pakistan being accused of harboring militants that carry out attacks in Afghanistan and India, for which the US demands action. Pakistan, on the other hand, vehemently denies these allegations.

Also read: Cyber criminals attacking India are from Pakistan, China and US

Then there is US President Donald Trump, who might completely cut down economic and military funding to Pakistan, the sixth largest recipient of American aid.

However, Pakistan's central bank chief spokesman Abid Qamar has expressed hopes that China's confidence and inflows into Pakistan will encourage other countries to do the same, thus reviving the interest of foreign investors in Pakistan economy.

(Image source Pak China News)