ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has to payback $100 billion to China by 2024 of total investment of $18.5 billion, which China has invested on account of banks’ loan in 19 early harvest projects mostly relating to energy sector under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The sources in Chinese Embassy told ‘The News’ that loans which China had given to Pakistan were considered as concessional loans, having special subsidy from the Chinese government. These loans are not the burden on Pakistan economy, as these constitute only 1.1 percent of total Pakistan foreign debt.

The sources said that Chinese financial assistance to Pakistan made a big contribution in strengthening Pakistan’s economy. Four years back GDP of Pakistan was 3.6 but now it reached 5.2, this reflected the fact that CPEC has played a major role in the economy of the country,” sources added.

Embassy’s sources further said that Chinese companies working in Pakistan has taken loans from Chinese banks for different development projects under CPEC and these companies are responsible for paying back loans not the Pakistani government.

The sources further said that China is also providing free assistance to some high-profile projects like construction of Gwadar Port, motorway linking Gwadar Port, schools and emergency health care centers etc. In future, China has planned to build more emergency healthcare centers in different parts of the country.

So far there are around 20,000 Pakistani students getting education in China. A large number of them are on Chinese government scholarships. CPEC also contributed in overcoming unemployment problem in Pakistan. As many as 60,000 Pakistanis got jobs in CPEC-related projects and 24,000 people got direct employment in different projects of CPEC. The sources said that in the next phase, china will focus to build industrial parks, which will bring not only Chinese but also other countries’ investment to Pakistan.