ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has placed the China-led Digital Silk Road at the heart of the next stage of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), signalling a major strategic shift from conventional infrastructure to high-technology cooperation.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Information Technology on Monday afternoon, Islamabad has formally proposed a broad spectrum of next-generation digital partnerships with Beijing, including joint ventures in 5G/6G technologies, hardware manufacturing, semiconductor components, cloud systems and advanced ICT infrastructure.
CPEC, launched in 2015 as a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, has already delivered major energy plants, highways, power transmission lines and the deep-sea port of Gwadar.
With investments valued at nearly US $60 billion, the corridor has long served as China’s main connectivity route linking western Xinjiang to the Arabian Sea.
As both countries transition into CPEC Phase-II, cooperation is expanding into areas that China has become globally competitive in, digital governance, smart manufacturing, automation, fiber connectivity, and technology-driven economic modernization.
Officials say the Digital Silk Road, Beijing’s framework for global digital interconnectivity, is now emerging as the backbone of CPEC’s forward-looking agenda. The initiative covers a range of sectors including cross-border data routing, cloud services, cybersecurity, digital trade systems, artificial intelligence, and intelligent manufacturing. Pakistan believes that deeper integration with this Chinese digital architecture will accelerate its own technology transformation and help the country position itself as a regional digital transit hub for South and Central Asia.
During her meeting in Baku with Zhang Yunmeng, Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Pakistan’s IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja presented a comprehensive set of proposals aligned with this digital strategy.
The ministry noted that Khawaja stressed the need for collaborative technology ecosystems, calling for joint ventures that would bring Chinese manufacturing capability and R&D expertise into Pakistan’s value chains.
According to the official statement, Pakistan additionally requested Chinese cooperation to dismantle what it described as the “Systemic Diversity Barrier,” structural gaps that prevent developing countries from integrating into global technology supply chains.
The proposal seeks coordinated initiatives in AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, digital skills, and talent exchange programs, all anchored in Pakistan–China partnership mechanisms.
Islamabad also urged China to support the industrial digital upgrading of Pakistani factories under the Chinese “Intelligent Manufacturing” model, which could help local industries adopt automation, sensors, robotics, and real-time data systems in line with global production standards. Both sides examined technical options for turning Pakistan into a regional data transit and storage hub through Pakistan-China fiber connectivity routes. They expressed mutual commitment to expanding digital cooperation as a central pillar of future CPEC development, reaffirming that the next decade of partnership will be driven largely by technology, innovation and shared digital growth. –Agencies
