Overview of Karakoram Highway/CPEC Connectivity to Xinxiang and Gilgit Baltistan

Pakistan presented the Karakoram Highway (KKH) to China in the late 1950s as its first major overland route to the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, and Africa. The KKH, also known as National Highway 35 (N 35), connects Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit Baltistan to Xinxiang as part of Chinese National Highway 314 (CNH 314). As part of CPEC, the KKH is currently undergoing extensive renovations. It connects China's Gwadar port to the landlocked Xinjiang province and is also slated to be expanded into an industrial corridor known as the Karakoram Corridor (KC). Through a well-developed network of highways, high-speed rail, and airports, Xinxiang is now well connected to the Chinese heartland. The infrastructural upgrade of KKH, CNH 314 with feeder links to other locations as part of CPEC has offered China with another route to deep waters, circumventing the Strait of Malacca and lessening reliance on the South China Sea. While CPEC covers a wide range of topics such as trade, energy, special economic zones, infrastructure, education, public health, and telecommunications, the scope of this article is limited to an examination of infrastructure development in the Xinxiang and Gilgit-Baltistan regions as part of CPEC.