DM Monitoring
ISLAMABAD: China-Pakistan cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has moved beyond highways and power plants to healthcare and human development, according to new research published this week in the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.
The article, titled “Health along the corridor: Medical Cooperation and Public Health Development under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, 2016-2025,” was formally accepted on January 26, 2026, for publication in the February 2026 issue of the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, which is now available online under the journal’s open-access model.
The study, authored by Qu Qiumei of the University of the Punjab in Lahore and Lu Pingjia of Yunnan Technology and Business University in Kunming, traces a decade of medical and public health collaboration under the Health Silk Road from 2016 to 2025.
Qu is a visiting lecturer in the Department of History and Pakistan Studies at the University of the Punjab, while Lu serves as an assistant professor at the School of Marxism at Yunnan Technology and Business University.
The paper argues that health cooperation has become a defining feature of CPEC’s second phase, integrating people’s welfare into the broader Belt and Road framework
The researchers write that “health cooperation under CPEC pioneers a new paradigm in development diplomacy-interconnectivity extends beyond transport and trade to encompass human security and collective wellbeing.”
According to the study, collaboration has expanded through hospital construction, joint laboratories, vaccine cooperation, medical training and technology transfer with “notable healthcare projects include the Port Authority Hospital in Gwadar, the Medical Centre at the China-Pakistan Gwadar Fajr Colony Secondary School and Vocational Training Centre, Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, and the China-Pakistan Joint Laboratory for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad.”
Against the backdrop of COVID-19, cooperation accelerated sharply between 2019 and 2021, moving from policy dialogue to on-the-ground implementation. The paper notes that this period marked “a tangible transition from policy advocacy to project execution,” as both sides signed multiple memoranda of understanding covering infectious disease control, laboratory capacity and public health governance.
Beyond infrastructure, the study highlights broader social impacts, citing falling maternal and neonatal mortality rates in areas served by new facilities and expanded immunization coverage. It also documents joint humanitarian efforts, including a January 2025 emergency program in which Chinese and Pakistani doctors performed surgery on eight children with congenital heart disease.
At the strategic level, the authors emphasize that healthcare is now central to CPEC’s evolution. “CPEC has integrated people’s welfare into its interconnected infrastructure framework,” as per the study.
However, the researchers also warn of persistent challenges along the corridor, including uneven health standards, biosecurity risks, funding gaps and shortages of trained professionals in underdeveloped regions. The paper states that “The Biosecurity Situation Along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is Critical,” pointing to high population density, limited infrastructure and the risk of cross-border disease transmission.
Looking ahead, the study calls for stronger institutional coordination, expanded traditional medicine exchanges, deeper digital health cooperation and sustained investment in grassroots healthcare.
To ensure long-term success, the authors recommend building a high-quality Health Silk Road brand and tailoring projects to local needs, particularly in emerging and developing economies.
