[ad_1]
The $ 60 trillion CPEC is the flagship venture of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a Chinese project of Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at enhancing Beijing's influence around the world through China-funded infrastructure projects.
The CPEC is a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking China's resource-rich Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region with Pakistan's strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.
Prime Minister Khan is to embark on his first visit to China on Li Keqiang.
"During his meetings in the friendly country, Khan would inform the Chinese leadership that he wanted to bring about a significant shift in the projects falling under the purview of the CPEC," the Dawn newspaper reported, quoting unnamed sources.
Under the previous government there was an emphasis on infrastructure schemes, but the current government of Khan wanted projects involving agriculture, job creation and foreign investment.
Pakistan has already approached the International Monetary Fund for a bailout to stabilize the economy.
The United States has been responsible for the economic challenges in Pakistan, adding that it will be reviewed by the United States of America.
State department spokesperson Heather Nauert said that the US thinks that part of the reason for Pakistan's financial crisis is Chinese debt.
India has protested to Beijing over the CPEC as it traversed through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Cash-strapped Pakistan has already announced plans to cut a $ 8.2 billion railway project between the Karachi and Peshawar the biggest under the CPEC by $ 2 billion to reduce the debt burden.
Meanwhile, the report also says that the CPR's infrastructure projects, the national highway authority's road projects worth over Rs 1 trillion have been adversely affected. Many projects in the energy sector have also been hit.
The affected projects include the 210km Dera Ismail Khan-Zhob road, the 110km Khuzdar-Basima road and a 136km portion of the Karakoram Highway.
Prime Minister Khan said that early implementation of the CPEC projects would help to achieve the true potential of the economic relations between the two countries.
He emphasized the need for early economic development (SEZs) in various parts of the country and hoped for these areas would help the local industry grow, creating huge employment opportunities for the youth, the report said.
