| China is one of the best friends of Pakistan and their friendship is known as "iron brother's friendship".China-Pakistan good relations build soon after the emergence of China in 1949.Pakistan is the first Muslim country who accepted China among Muslim world.Pakistan and China have all-season good friendship and relations.Pakistan-China historically has good relations in diplomatic and military perspective but now a new economic paradigm relationship is going to be established which concentrate more on economic,trade,energy,infrastructure and investment cooperation.The Chinese government has been launched a biggest foreign direct investment program for Pakistan under the Belt Road Initiative(BRI).Chinese government has been announced a One Belt One Road(OBOR)to connect China with more than 65 countries through road and sea.OBOR based upon six economic corridors;China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor(CMREC),New Eurasia Land Bridge Economic Corridor(NELBEC),China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor(CCWAEC),China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC),Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor and China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor(CICPEC).Chinese government initiative of OBOR is based upon the construction of roads,bridges,railway lines,seaports,oil and gas pipelines,special economic and trade zones and dry ports.The Chinese government has been introduced a new cross-continental international mercantilism to accumulate the wealth and capital for China through State Owned Enterprises(SOE' s).The present study was designed to investigate the expected socio-economic impact of CPEC on Pakistani society and how it would be helpful in the socio-economic development of Pakistan.Currently,Pakistan is facing severe issues in economy,trade and energy sector.Energy is the basic requirement for the economy of Pakistan.The present study was conducted in two node cities;Gilgit-Baltistan(A starting point of CPEC under the umbrella of OBOR in Pakistan near China-Pakistan border area)and in Gwadar(Gwadar is the end point of the CPEC).Further,the development of Gwadar deep sea water port is one of the important features of OBOR.A sample of 500 respondents has been selected from both cities through multi-stage sampling technique.At the first stage,two node cities were selected through simple random sampling technique.In the second stage,two tehsils were selected from each node city randomly and in the final stage,a sample size of 500 respondents was selected through simple random sampling technique from the four selected tehsils of both node cities.The results of the study shows that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC)is helpful in the socio-economic uplifting of the Pakistani society and it will improve the economy of Pakistan enhance GDP growth and attract foreign investment.Moreover,the living standard of a common man will improve through job creations and poverty alleviations.It was found that all of the selected population had knowledge about CPEC project in Pakistan,electronic and print media were the major sources of information about this project.Selected population had thinking that CPEC is a road which link China andPakistan,a biggest investment of China in Pakistan and is a rural and urban development Plan.Mostly respondents had thinking that CPEC is energy,Infrastructure and social development project in Pakistan.A huge majority of the respondents had thinking that CPEC plays an important role in the socio-economic and rural development of Pakistan.It wasobserved that Pakistani community had expectation of positive impact on GDP,GNP and FDI of Pakistan.A great majority of the respondents had thinking that free economic zones and industrial parks will be helpful in the alleviation of absolute poverty and CPEC will bring collective positive social change in Pakistani society and this project will be provided business opportunities.A large majority of the respondents had thinking that Pakistan will become a transit route like Dubai or Hong Kong through CPEC project.CPEC also influencing on Pakistani culture i.e.technological growth and innovation,changes in landscape culture,introducing Chinese Cultural Courses in the Universities through Confucius Institutes,it is promoting Chinese language,exchange education Programmes,Increase contact between both countries people and broadcasting of Chinese content on television channel.A vast majority of the respondents had thinking that projects under the flagship of CPEC promote tourism in their area.It was observed poor administration,Unavailability of Quality labor force,and poor domestic investment were the major challenges at administration level in the implementation of CPEC projects.Instability in Afghanistan,Super Power's Tussle,Indian Government Attitude,Regional Insecurity and Terrorist's attack on Chinese Human Resources types of global challenges are main barrier in the implementation of CPEC projects in Pakistan.A major proportion of the respondents recommended priority of the local people in jobs and economic activities to improve the security of the CPEC routes.To conclude,the CPEC is beneficial for the both China and Pakistan.It is expected that after the completion of the CPEC,it will have positive socio-cultural impact on the society of Pakistan.Further,China will develop Xinjiang region through CPEC because the port of Gwadar will be connected through road and railway lines with Kashghar.CPEC will also improve the socio-economic conditions of the Uighur people in Xinjiang region.The Xinjiang region has 10 million Uighur Muslims.Consequently,the CPEC will provide economic and business opportunities to the people of Xinjiang and further it will also be helpful in the removing of unrest in Xinjiang region which is found due to terrorist activities by East Turkistan Islamic Movement(ETIM). |
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