Officials in Pakistan’s western province of Balochistan say they are set to sign a deal with China on November 11 on developing a special economic zone around the deep-sea port of Gwadar.
The 40-year lease would see the provincial government of Balochistan hand over more than 900 hectares of tax-exempt land near Pakistan’s western border with Iran as part of the 2,900-kilometer China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
China is expected to invest $1.6 billion on the economic zone as part of the CPEC -- an ambitious $46 billion plan to build roads, railroads, and power plants linking Kashgar in western China with the Arabian Sea.
Gwadar Port Authority chief Dostain Khan Jamaldini said the economic zone contract assigns the land to the China Overseas Port Holding Company.
Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch says China plans to build an export processing zone, a modern international airport, and a road network at Gwadar.