Beijing offers to boost China-Pakistan corridor safety as terror threat grows

China has pledged to work with Pakistan to advance “high-level security cooperation” and ensure the two countries’ flagship infrastructure project is “safe”, as terrorism continues to disrupt a key region for the Belt and Road Initiative.

Liu Haixing, head of the party’s International Department, sent the messages during separate meetings with Pakistan’s top military leader Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, as part of his first official visit to the South Asian country since taking office just over a year ago.

In his meeting with Munir, Liu told Pakistan’s chief of defence forces that Beijing stands ready to deepen exchanges with Islamabad on statecraft and pursue the development of the “2.0” version of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), according to a statement from the Chinese department on Monday.

“China is willing to work with Pakistan … to ensure the safe and smooth operation of the strategic passage and foster a stable and secure environment for cooperation,” Liu was quoted as saying in his first public meeting with Munir, who is widely regarded as the country’s most powerful man.

The key Belt and Road Initiative project has persistently faced the risk of terrorism in recent years, with the area around Gwadar Port, a Chinese-operated Arabian Sea facility and one of the corridor’s main nodes, being a flashpoint.

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The separatist Baloch Liberation Front launched an attack in the Gwadar area about two weeks ago, prompting a counterterrorism operation by the Pakistani military, which said it had killed 10 militants. Chinese citizens in Pakistan have also been targeted by other Baloch separatist groups and Islamist militants.

“Gwadar has long been an ideological target of separatists, who oppose development projects undertaken as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project – at the heart of which lies Gwadar port – for furthering the exploitation of local resources,” Zain Shah, a researcher at the non-profit organisation Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, said in a note published on October 28. He added that militant violence in the region had worsened this year so far compared to 2025.

Escalating border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past two years have also posed risks to the corridor’s northern stretch.

The multibillion-dollar project is widely seen as crucial to helping China overcome the so-called “Malacca dilemma” – the country’s overreliance on the narrow Southeast Asian strait for its crucial energy imports.

The US-Israel war on Iran has also highlighted Gwadar’s strategic potential, as it sits just outside the crisis-hit Strait of Hormuz and could offer an anchoring option for vessels whose passage has been disrupted.

Under the “2.0” upgrade Liu mentioned, Beijing and Islamabad are seeking to expand CPEC’s coverage into industry, agriculture, mining and private-sector investment.

According to a statement from Pakistan’s armed forces on Monday, Munir and Liu discussed matters of mutual interest, evolving regional and international security dynamics and bilateral relations, while expressing “their shared resolve to further strengthen the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership” between the two countries.

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The statement said Liu also “appreciated Pakistan’s contributions to regional peace and stability” during the meeting at the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

This summer, Munir and Sharif played prominent diplomatic roles in efforts to mediate between Washington and Tehran, culminating in the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding. However, the document was later shelved amid mutual accusations of violations, conflicting demands and renewed military escalation.

Liu called on Sharif in Islamabad on Monday, in what was also their first official meeting.

“China is ready to continue to firmly support Pakistan on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns, expand practical cooperation across various fields and strengthen high-level security cooperation,” Liu was quoted as telling the Pakistani prime minister in the Chinese statement.

An image circulating on Chinese social media over the weekend showed that Pakistan ordered 30 Chinese-made Z-10ME attack helicopters, an unverified post which came as Chinese aircraft are playing a larger role in Islamabad’s military.

Reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to working closely with China, Sharif commended “the shared focus on advancing cooperation in trade, investment, connectivity, infrastructure development, IT and agriculture modernisation”, according to a statement from his office.