'CPEC turns out to be a fiasco for both Pakistan and China'

New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which was once presented as a booster for economic growth and a geopolitical game-changer, appears to have become a bane for Pakistan and China, according to an article. 

While Pakistan has come under a crushing financial burden, China is angry about security failures and the failing returns on the heavy investments. A decade later, the mega project is slowly turning into a giant white elephant, much like the other projects that have been taken under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the article on Zimbabwe’s NewsDay news portal read.

Voices against China for the deteriorating financial situation are growing in Pakistan as the CPEC caused the setting up the most expensive projects that were actually not needed.

The article cites Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue's s former Chairman Shabar Zaidi as saying: "I was the first person in Pakistan to oppose CPEC. I said 25 years ago that it is a drama and nothing will come out of it. You fooled people. It led to disaster." Many people have supported and echoed Zaidi’s views on social media platforms.

The article highlighted that nobody knows what the present-day value of the original $46 billion CPEC plan is after one decade because of China’s secretive dealings, which involve strict confidentiality clauses in agreements. While Pakistanis are frustrated by the poor performance and incapability of the CPEC projects to generate returns, the Chinese are worried about the repayment of huge CPEC loans amid Pakistan’s worsening financial condition.

Pakistani officials can often be seen pleading with their Chinese counterparts to renegotiate payment arrangements, as liabilities from just CPEC-led power projects exceeded PKR 543 billion in March 2026. Yet, the CPEC has failed to end Pakistan’s power crisis. China has shown little inclination to ease Pakistan’s financial burden. The frustration on the Pakistan side is quite evident, as Power Minister Sardar Awais Khan Leghari had to acknowledge that a "sufficient outcome has not come out yet".

Gwadar Port, which was touted as a jewel of the CPEC plan, is in a doldrum as it lacks basic civic facilities. How could it create an economic ecosystem then? CPEC projects lacked competitive manufacturing, high-value exports, foreign-exchange earnings, and integration into global supply chains. The situation is more or less the same for other important transportation projects, thanks to bureaucratic delays, provincial disagreements, policy paralysis, financial mismanagement, and public protests, among others, the article added.

--IANS

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