NEW DELHI: In the popular narrative about China being wily, manipulative and a bully, it’s easy to overlook that Chinese diplomacy and commerce, even its media, have had to adjust their strategies, working methods and culture to suit the countries they are operating in. This is so even in the case of China’s ‘Iron Brother’ Pakistan, where despite decades of close political and strategic ties, Chinese firms and employers have had to tailor their approach and work with local firms to succeed.
In a study for the Carnegie Endowment titled ‘The Local Roots of Chinese Engagement with Pakistan’, researcher Muhammad Tayyab Safdar writes that “China’s engagement with Pakistani political, social, and economic institutions comes in response to local conditions. By adapting to these conditions and working through local institutions and actors, a host of Chinese actors are poised to continue deepening their interactions with different parts of Pakistani society.”
China is diversifying its political engagement, he notes and Chinese actors have developed ties with various political parties across the Pakistani political spectrum. Through programs like the CPEC’s Joint Consultative Mechanism, China seeks to build a political consensus across Pakistan’s fractious political divide to galvanise support for the CPEC and broader Chinese interests in the country.
Economic engagement is begetting education exchanges. Growing economic ties between China and Pakistan have laid the groundwork for partnerships in the education sector. Chinese educational support for Pakistan and other developing countries comes mainly through scholarships, vocational training programs and Chinese language courses. While China exports its language and culture through Confucius Institutes and classrooms, there is increasing demand for learning Mandarin, especially among young, middle-class Pakistanis.
For many, Safdar writes, China also exerts an “increasing pull as a leading destination for higher education”.
The Chinese government has substantially expanded scholarships for Pakistani students. However, this increase in enrolment among Pakistani students is also driven by other variables such as greater awareness of Chinese higher education, more affordable Chinese universities and growing confidence in the value of Chinese degree programmes. More than 28,000 Pakistani students studied in Chinese institutes of higher learning in 2018. The number of Pakistani students in China is greater than the number of Pakistanis studying in Australia, the UK and the U.S. combined, Safdar notes.
China-Pakistan media ties have been expanding. China has made progress in developing relationships with local Pakistani media houses and journalists to communicate its message more effectively through traditional and social media. Chinese efforts to expand relationships between Xinhua and local Pakistani media organisations—both public and private—are still at a nascent stage but are helping Beijing reach a broader subset of the population.
Important to note that “Media actors from both nations, through Chinese-hosted training sessions, are working to craft a positive image of the CPEC and China-Pakistan relations.”
China’s state-owned Xinhua news agency, English language newspapers like China Daily, and broadcasting organisations like the China Global Television Network and China Radio International regularly highlight the positive effects of CPEC projects. Since December 2019, Xinhua has been providing Pakistani news agencies and media organisations access to all its news service content including photos, text and videos for print and electronic media in English and Urdu.
Xinhua even launched a Pakistan service in October 2019 in partnership with Independent News Pakistan, a move in sync with Beijing’s broader strategy of localising information and disseminating it through partners in the country.
The power sector has been a wellspring of economic partnerships. Several Pakistani firms have partnered with Chinese State Owned Enterprises to invest in the Pakistani power sector. The interests of a range of stakeholders—including Pakistani officials, local Pakistani firms, Chinese policymakers, and Chinese SOEs—have aligned to address Pakistan’s long-standing power shortage crisis.
Through these partnerships, local firms have gained access to capital and investment has flowed to projects that traditional development actors like the World Bank have avoided due to environmental, political and economic sustainability concerns. Several of the CPEC’s energy projects involve active two-way negotiations between Chinese and Pakistani firms, adaptation by Chinese SOEs to local conditions and burgeoning long-term relationships between Chinese SOEs and Pakistani conglomerates. HUBCO, Pakistan’s largest independent power producer, negotiated with Chinese partners on the technical specifications for a 1320 megawatt power project. It convinced its partner Power China to source equipment from General Electric of the U.S., including boilers, generators and supercritical steam turbines. Engro Energy involved in CPEC projects has procured equipment from U.S. sources GA/Alstom, persuading its Chinese partners that their equipment was superior to what China made.
As Safdar writes: “Rather than being a one-way street where local actors automatically accede to their Chinese partner’s demands, several of CPEC energy projects involve active discussion and negotiations between firms from both countries.”
Chinese firms have adapted business models to local conditions. CMEC has taken a minority stake in downstream mine and power plant operations, sending a message to local partners its long term interest. Chinese firms have developed relationships with local partners to help navigate through the thicket of local rules and regulations. Local partners lend a helping hand when government payments are delayed.
Clearly, the China-Pakistan partnership is driven by both sides. China’s engagement with local political elites and in Pakistan’s education, media and energy sectors comes in response to local demands and conditions. By adapting to these conditions and working through local institutions, China will continue to seek to appeal to broader audiences and maximise its influence in the country.
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