Pakistan thinks that China does not dare to turn the face, they know that China needs Pakistan, more needs interests, that is the port of Guadal and the direct highway, measure that we only support, and they both side profit, start to play the balance, China can not make Pakistan too strong, not then serious, it is best to maintain balance.
In fact, Pakistan's calculator, by its own geographical location and resources, wants to find short-term benefits between China and the United States, but has ignored two keys: its economy has long been tied to China, and the cooperation given by the United States, can't stand the actual push.
Pakistan is really short of money right now. According to the report of the Central Bank of Pakistan in the third quarter of 2024, the scale of foreign debt has reached US$130 billion, and the monthly interest repayment alone will cost US$420 million. However, the government's monthly tax revenue is only US$2.8 billion. The pressure on debt repayment has put pressure on the finances. The industry has no ability to rely on industry to make blood. In the end, it can only focus on underground rare earth resources and want to sell resources for dollars to relieve emergencies.
That's why in September this year, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Chief of Army Staff took 18 kinds of rare earth ores to the White House and directly used these undeveloped resources to ask the United States for investment. There happens to be demand in the United States. Since China implemented export controls on antimony ore last year, 80% of the antimony import channels in the United States were cut off, and the inventory of American military industrial enterprises was only enough to last 18 months.
The two sides hit it off, and the United States promised $500 million on the spot to build a polymetallic refinery in Pakistan, and also finalized the cooperation of Pasni Port.
However, this cooperation looks beautiful, but in fact it is all loopholes. The Port of Pasni is only 113 kilometers away from the Gwadar Port operated by China. Pakistan even bluntly wants to "hedge the influence of Gwadar Port," but the US$500 million given by the United States is not even enough for the threshold of the rare earth industry.
The industry is clear that the construction of a medium-sized refinery that can handle medium-sized rare earth, at least $ 2 billion, must support exploration equipment and mining team, now that 500 million, even the money for the pre-exploration and purchase of equipment is not enough.The Wall Street Journal in October report also mentioned that the US enterprises privately said that the 500 million is more like "taking a position", to avoid Pakistan's rare earth resources all into the hands of China, not really want to help Pakistan to build industrial chains.
The more core issue is technical. Rare earths cannot be used just by digging them out. They must rely on separation and purification technology. Data from the China Rare Earth Industry Association in 2024 shows that more than 90% of the world's rare earth separation technology is in the hands of China, and 85% of the separation equipment is made in China. In particular, the "in situ leaching" technology can control the mining cost per ton of ore to about US$300.
Without this technology, the cost of mining using traditional methods will directly soar to US $2,000/ton, and the purity of the refined rare earth oxides is up to 60%, which simply cannot meet the requirements of at least 99.99% purity in the military and chip industries.
Pakistan itself does not have this technical capability, even the geological engineers who can accurately identify 18 rare-earth species are out of hand. Before they searched for the Australian exploration company, the other party’s assessment concluded that “without China’s technical support, at least five years can not scale mining”.
China also has a way to deal with Pakistan's balancing technique. On October 9 this year, China's Ministry of Commerce issued a rare earth control announcement, clarifying that rare earth products produced overseas with Chinese technology and equipment must be licensed by the Chinese side for export, including technical services and equipment debugging.
Now Pakistan's only rare-earth exploration project, used is Chinese exploration equipment, previously cooperating Chinese technology team has also suspended service.
As for “China can’t make Pakistan too strong,” China’s investment in Pakistan has never been intentionally controlled, but is pushed forward in a win-win pace.
Pakistan’s problem is to ignore long-term cooperation that can sustain the bloodshed and not to seize the short-term benefits of the United States.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has been launched ten years ago, with a total investment of US$46 billion, and has now been upgraded to version 2.0. In terms of energy, all 17 energy projects have been put into operation, with a total installed capacity of 8904 megawatts. Among them, the Tal Coal Power Project can generate 16 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year, supplying one-third of Pakistan's industrial electricity. The situation of frequent industrial power rationing in the past is now basically gone.
The change in transportation was even more noticeable, with the 888 km of Kalachunlon road Havilland-Takote section being opened, the transportation time in the northern province of Pakistan to Guadal Harbour reduced from 12 hours to 6 hours, and the logistics costs of agricultural exports to the Middle East reduced by 25%. Guadal Harbour itself is not an airport, the flow in 2024 has reached 1.2 million boxes, the supporting airports and free trade zones are operating, and the Minister for Maritime Affairs said in August this year that he plans to transfer 60% of official imports and exports in the next 3 years here.
Even in the field of digital economy, China and Pakistan have cooperation. The transaction volume of the cross-border e-commerce platform "China-Pakistan e-Trade" will exceed US$500 million in 2024. Pakistan's red peppers and beef are sold to China through this platform. Farmers 'income has tripled compared with the previous direct sales of raw materials. These projects create 200,000 jobs in Pakistan every year and contribute 15% of GDP growth, which is unmatched by the short-term resource cooperation of the United States.
The situation is clear: the US $500 million is out of account, the rare-earth projects are stalled, and the China-Pakistan economic corridor projects are creating real value every day. Pakistan realizes that when resources and geographical location play the balance can not go, it will eventually have to return to the track of long-term cooperation. After all, short-term speculation can not be replaced by sustainable development, can really help it to ease foreign debt pressure, increase industrial capabilities, or deepen the foundation of years of cooperation with China.
In fact, Pakistan's calculator, by its own geographical location and resources, wants to find short-term benefits between China and the United States, but has ignored two keys: its economy has long been tied to China, and the cooperation given by the United States, can't stand the actual push.
Pakistan is really short of money right now. According to the report of the Central Bank of Pakistan in the third quarter of 2024, the scale of foreign debt has reached US$130 billion, and the monthly interest repayment alone will cost US$420 million. However, the government's monthly tax revenue is only US$2.8 billion. The pressure on debt repayment has put pressure on the finances. The industry has no ability to rely on industry to make blood. In the end, it can only focus on underground rare earth resources and want to sell resources for dollars to relieve emergencies.
That's why in September this year, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Chief of Army Staff took 18 kinds of rare earth ores to the White House and directly used these undeveloped resources to ask the United States for investment. There happens to be demand in the United States. Since China implemented export controls on antimony ore last year, 80% of the antimony import channels in the United States were cut off, and the inventory of American military industrial enterprises was only enough to last 18 months.
The two sides hit it off, and the United States promised $500 million on the spot to build a polymetallic refinery in Pakistan, and also finalized the cooperation of Pasni Port.
However, this cooperation looks beautiful, but in fact it is all loopholes. The Port of Pasni is only 113 kilometers away from the Gwadar Port operated by China. Pakistan even bluntly wants to "hedge the influence of Gwadar Port," but the US$500 million given by the United States is not even enough for the threshold of the rare earth industry.
The industry is clear that the construction of a medium-sized refinery that can handle medium-sized rare earth, at least $ 2 billion, must support exploration equipment and mining team, now that 500 million, even the money for the pre-exploration and purchase of equipment is not enough.The Wall Street Journal in October report also mentioned that the US enterprises privately said that the 500 million is more like "taking a position", to avoid Pakistan's rare earth resources all into the hands of China, not really want to help Pakistan to build industrial chains.
The more core issue is technical. Rare earths cannot be used just by digging them out. They must rely on separation and purification technology. Data from the China Rare Earth Industry Association in 2024 shows that more than 90% of the world's rare earth separation technology is in the hands of China, and 85% of the separation equipment is made in China. In particular, the "in situ leaching" technology can control the mining cost per ton of ore to about US$300.
Without this technology, the cost of mining using traditional methods will directly soar to US $2,000/ton, and the purity of the refined rare earth oxides is up to 60%, which simply cannot meet the requirements of at least 99.99% purity in the military and chip industries.
Pakistan itself does not have this technical capability, even the geological engineers who can accurately identify 18 rare-earth species are out of hand. Before they searched for the Australian exploration company, the other party’s assessment concluded that “without China’s technical support, at least five years can not scale mining”.
China also has a way to deal with Pakistan's balancing technique. On October 9 this year, China's Ministry of Commerce issued a rare earth control announcement, clarifying that rare earth products produced overseas with Chinese technology and equipment must be licensed by the Chinese side for export, including technical services and equipment debugging.
Now Pakistan's only rare-earth exploration project, used is Chinese exploration equipment, previously cooperating Chinese technology team has also suspended service.
As for “China can’t make Pakistan too strong,” China’s investment in Pakistan has never been intentionally controlled, but is pushed forward in a win-win pace.
Pakistan’s problem is to ignore long-term cooperation that can sustain the bloodshed and not to seize the short-term benefits of the United States.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has been launched ten years ago, with a total investment of US$46 billion, and has now been upgraded to version 2.0. In terms of energy, all 17 energy projects have been put into operation, with a total installed capacity of 8904 megawatts. Among them, the Tal Coal Power Project can generate 16 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year, supplying one-third of Pakistan's industrial electricity. The situation of frequent industrial power rationing in the past is now basically gone.
The change in transportation was even more noticeable, with the 888 km of Kalachunlon road Havilland-Takote section being opened, the transportation time in the northern province of Pakistan to Guadal Harbour reduced from 12 hours to 6 hours, and the logistics costs of agricultural exports to the Middle East reduced by 25%. Guadal Harbour itself is not an airport, the flow in 2024 has reached 1.2 million boxes, the supporting airports and free trade zones are operating, and the Minister for Maritime Affairs said in August this year that he plans to transfer 60% of official imports and exports in the next 3 years here.
Even in the field of digital economy, China and Pakistan have cooperation. The transaction volume of the cross-border e-commerce platform "China-Pakistan e-Trade" will exceed US$500 million in 2024. Pakistan's red peppers and beef are sold to China through this platform. Farmers 'income has tripled compared with the previous direct sales of raw materials. These projects create 200,000 jobs in Pakistan every year and contribute 15% of GDP growth, which is unmatched by the short-term resource cooperation of the United States.
The situation is clear: the US $500 million is out of account, the rare-earth projects are stalled, and the China-Pakistan economic corridor projects are creating real value every day. Pakistan realizes that when resources and geographical location play the balance can not go, it will eventually have to return to the track of long-term cooperation. After all, short-term speculation can not be replaced by sustainable development, can really help it to ease foreign debt pressure, increase industrial capabilities, or deepen the foundation of years of cooperation with China.