Gwadar Port, a special port in Pakistan known as the crossroads of Asia, is strategically located. It is adjacent to the Gulf countries in the west and has the world's largest oil reserves, India and Southeast Asia in the east, and Xinjiang and ** in the north of China.
This unique geographical location has attracted many countries and enterprises to come to develop, including many international shipping giants. However, in the end, it was China Overseas Port Holdings*** that had the last laugh
With several years of investment and construction in China, Gwadar Port has undergone earth-shaking changes, from the original narrow port to the goal of an international port step by step.
However, the process has not been smooth sailing, and China has also rubbed shoulders with the Gwadar port.
Despite its strategic location, Gwadar was relatively short in its development history, with the first port terminal not being built until 1992. So, why is that?
It turned out that in the early days of Pakistan's independence, Gwadar still belonged to Oman across the ocean, and there were many ports in Oman, so they did not care about the development of Gwadar.
However, Pakistan is full of interest in this land. In fact, in 1954, when Pakistan hired the U.S. Geological Survey to survey the coastline, it knew that this area was an ideal location as a seaport.
After the end of the Omani civil war, the treasury was empty and assistance from neighboring countries was sought. As a result, Oman and Pakistan began negotiations on a deal in the Gwadar region. Eventually, Oman gave Gwadar to Pakistan in 1958 for £3 million.
However, Pakistan's long-term economic development lagged behind and it was not until the late 80s, when it had more than enough funds, to start building the Gwadar port.
In 1993, Pakistan proposed a plan to build a deep sea port in Gwadar, planning to contribute 6 percent domestically and the remaining 4 percent to raise internationally. After discussions, the programme was adopted in December 1995.
However, the construction was more difficult than Pakistan** had anticipated, and the funds needed soon exceeded the original plan, forcing Pakistan to become more dependent on international investment.
In 1998, Pakistan's nuclear test triggered international sanctions, and external fundraising activities were suspended. However, at a time when Pakistan is suffering from global isolation, China has come to the rescue.
In 1999, before China's economy took off, it offered Pakistan financial and technical assistance to start the construction of the port. In 2001, Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf visited Beijing and reached an agreement with Premier Zhu Rongji on the matter.
China has demonstrated efficiency and professionalism in the Gwadar port, and engineers have been dispatched to re-plan and date the groundbreaking ceremony, with construction scheduled to begin at the end of 2001.
The project seems to be on the right track, and China's support could give the Gwadar port a new look in a few years, and take over the subsequent port operations, opening up a new channel to the outside world.
However, things did not go as smoothly as expected, and on 7 October 2001, the war in Afghanistan broke out. If the war in Afghanistan is viewed in the context of a global grand strategy, it is actually a wedge for the United States to push into Central Asia, rather than a just war on terror as propagated by the West.
In this conflict, Pakistan is caught in a dilemma. They are unhappy with the Afghan Taliban because of territorial disputes and ideology, but they can't resist the spread of war to their doorstep by the United States.
The pressure of international realities has forced Pakistan to cooperate with the US military operation in Afghanistan, but it has caused serious consequences for the United States to expand its political and economic influence in Pakistan through military action.
Among them, the construction and operation of the Gwadar port has naturally not been spared, and has become the target of attacks by the West, which has questioned the corruption and opacity of the transaction process, and believes that the progress of the project is seriously lagging behind, and Pakistan's description of the port's benefits is exaggerated.
In addition to the pressure, the war in Afghanistan has led to terrorist groups such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda being forced to flee the cities, and they have instead infiltrated into neighboring countries, with a large number of their personnel entering Pakistan, which poses a serious security threat to the country.
At the same time, Balochistan has long been influenced by separatist ideologies and has tense relations with the Federation. The Baloch people believe that the construction of the Gwadar port has not benefited the locals, but has allowed ** to exploit their resources, so they are dissatisfied with ** and frequently launch violent campaigns, which is a headache for the federation.
The construction and operation of the Gwadar port faces multiple difficulties, including the threat of terrorism and separatism, as well as China's concerns about the cost of maintaining stability, which have led to delays in the port's actual operation.
In 2007, U.S. pressure led Pakistan to hand over operations to Singapore International Ports Authority rather than its main contractor, China. Singapore, as a white glove of the United States, lacks the capacity and interest to operate the Gwadar port, knowing that the success of the Gwadar port will open up new shipping pipelines for China and East Asia, thereby weakening the position of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
Singapore's inaction in the development of the Gwadar port has left Pakistan deeply unhappy. Pakistan, which had hoped that Singapore would take advantage of its rich experience in port operations, was unexpectedly backfired.
Despite the fact that the contract has been signed, Pakistan has come up with a way to solve this problem. It turned out that there was a 584-acre plot of land in the Gwadar port area that was in the hands of the navy and had not been handed over to a Singapore company.
In 2010, the High Court of Pakistan ruled that the land transfer case was unlawful.
Pakistan acknowledged that it had failed to honour the port management contract, which had led to difficulties for the Singapore side, and therefore agreed to the Singapore side to waive the port management and operation contract.
This series of operations seems to be Pakistan driving out the Singapore company, but in fact, it is the Singapore company itself that wants to transfer shares, and the one who takes over these shares is China Overseas Port Holdings***
Back in February 2013, China Overseas Ports Holdings*** began to take over the operation of Gwadar Port on a 43-year lease. In the same year, China and Pakistan also reached an agreement to build a China-Pakistan highway and a China-Pakistan railway from Kashgar in Xinjiang to Gwadar port.
It has been 12 years since China supported the construction of the Gwadar port, and this deep-water port with great potential has finally returned to China's embrace after many vicissitudes. Today's China is no longer the same as in the past, and its engineering construction, port operation, and maritime management capabilities have become world-leading, and under the guidance of the "Belt and Road" strategy, the significance of Gwadar Port to China has become more prominent.
In the plan agreed between China and Pakistan, Gwadar Port is not only a simple port, but also a comprehensive embodiment of the port, a modern city and a development zone. The port area will be equipped with facilities such as oil and gas tank farms, deep-water terminals, container areas, ship repair docks and weather stations.
In the planning of Gwadar Port, in addition to the construction of multi-functional berths and the improvement of the depth of the port, there are also the construction of large office squares, gardens, ** areas and entertainment areas, and even large warehouses, exhibition centers and business centers.
A large international airport will also be built outside the port to meet future demand. The pace of development at Gwadar Port is amazing, and it will move forward at an even faster pace.
In the past few days, Chinese engineers have made continuous efforts to make the Gwadar port continue to grow and develop.
China's port ancillary infrastructure projects are also in China's development plans, including 1$300 million breakwater, one worth 1$1.4 billion desalination plant, a 1$400 million in 19-kilometer two-lane highways; and 2$300 million Gwadar International Airport, 3A $600 million coal-fired power plant, a $100 million Gwadar hospital, and a floating natural gas storage station with a capacity of 500 million cubic feet.
The main funding for these major constructions comes from Chinese loans, such as the Gwadar project announced by China in August 2015The $5.7 billion loan will be converted to zero interest rate, with Pakistan only having to repay the principal.
Some of the construction was even completed in the form of donations from the Chinese side, such as the Gwadar International Airport mentioned above.
Pakistan's future plans include increasing the cargo throughput of Gwadar port to 300 to 400 million tonnes per year, ten times that of Karachi, Pakistan's largest port, and even more than the combined throughput of all ports in India.
After that, it will further improve the characteristic industrial chain and develop a set of first-class tourism industry chain including manufacturing and service industries, so as to truly become an international comprehensive port.
In addition to port construction, Chinese investment in Gwadar also involves the comprehensive development of the entire region. For example, the Gwadar Vocational and Technical School, which was built with Chinese assistance, aims to train professional skills and provide human resources for future port companies.
After the school was put into use, it provided vocational skills training for thousands of people every year, improved their professional ability and literacy, and contributed to the prosperity of the port.
Vocational education has played a huge role in the development of Pakistan, where most people can only engage in basic and unskilled jobs due to their low level of education and even computer skills.
However, after vocational skills training, they gradually become able to cope with complex tasks. In addition, China also attaches great importance to basic education, especially for minors.
In June 2020, the expansion project of the Gwadar Faqul Public High School was successfully completed and handed over to the local education department with the help of the China Peace and Development Association.
This project is another major livelihood project in Gwadar, which brings new classrooms and allows children to have a learning environment that can be sheltered from the wind and rain away from the heat.
Today, the school is one of the best in the area, with over 700 students enrolled. At the same time, the development of the port has had a positive impact on the local employment situation.
The Gwadar garment factory, operated by China Overseas Ports Holdings***, provides employment opportunities for a large number of housewives with low educational qualifications.
Many companies have taken a fancy to the prospect of Gwadar Port and have bought land and built factories here, which has greatly improved the employment and living standards of local residents. Pakistan** estimates that the Gwadar port will provide 2 million jobs over the next 20 years.
While China pays attention to economic development, it also attaches great importance to environmental protection and ecological restoration. For example, the Gwadar region has a hot and dry climate, with less than 60 mm of rainfall per year, almost no vegetation cover on the ground, and severe salinization and desertification.
Despite this, China is willing to invest resources in efforts to improve the local natural environment.
In 2016, Henan Yulin Holdings*** participated in the construction of the "Green Port City" of Gwadar Port as a "green messenger" at the invitation of China Hong Kong Holdings.
Their unremitting efforts on the arid Gobi Desert eventually succeeded in creating a vibrant garden-like port area, laying the ecological foundation for the green development of Gwadar Port.
Today, after years of stable operation, the Gwadar Port has become an important node of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Belt and Road Initiative's westward access to the sea, enriching China's energy import options and enhancing China's energy security.
The Gwadar port, a prime example of China's peaceful rise and mutual benefit, has not only helped Pakistan improve its economic and social development, but also made the rest of the world realize that China is a trustworthy and cooperative partner through China's human, material and financial investment in the project.
Gwadar Port still has huge potential to be tapped, and we look forward to it becoming the brightest jewel in the Indian Ocean.