China\u2019s President Xi Jinping will unveil his grand economic plan for the world on May 14 and 15 at an international summit on his \u201cOne Belt, One Road\u201d policy initiative. Attended by 28 heads of state and top officials from more than 60 nations, the event is a coming out party for the Asian giant and will see Xi outline China\u2019s plans to forge a new global economic order by drawing on the millennia-old tradition of the Silk Road trading route.<\/p>\n
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In truth, the summit is just the latest step in China\u2019s evolution as a global power. The tendrils of Chinese influence have been gradually wrapping themselves around the globe and the once closed-off Asian nation is emerging as a potential superpower. We explore five ways China is changing lives \u2013 with its financial clout and its influence on culture, education, travel and the military balance of power.<\/p>\n
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Part one: Investment<\/p>\n
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China\u2019s global investment<\/p>\n
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In a bustling street in Pakistan\u2019s capital the air is thick with the familiar smell of mutton sizzling on charcoal. The plumes of smoke rising into the night sky are illuminated by something once uncommon here — the blinking red neon of a sign bearing the restaurant\u2019s name in Chinese.<\/p>\n
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Gulab Khan Shinwari, the owner, stands at its entrance welcoming a steady stream of Chinese customers. \u201cMy restaurant is called Khyber Shinwari but everyone here calls it the CPEC Hotel, since so many Chinese customers have started arriving since the deal was announced.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, popularly known by its acronym of CPEC, has become a buzzword for longed-for economic prosperity in Pakistan. An integral part of China\u2019s One Belt, One Road initiative, the corridor is a combination of projects ranging from road networks, an fiber optic cable project, railway lines, a deep-sea port, coal mines and solar farms that Pakistan views as a huge opportunity to develop its economy.<\/p>\n
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Following the ancient Silk Road that stretches from the Himalayas in Pakistan\u2019s northern border with China all the way down to the Arabian Sea, the corridor was announced with much fanfare in 2015 when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Islamabad and announced a $46 billion investment plan, roughly 20% of Pakistan\u2019s economic output.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China’s President Xi Jinping will unveil his grand economic plan for the world on May 14 and 15 at an international summit on his “One Belt, One Road” policy initiative. Attended by 28 heads of state and top officials from more than 60 nations, the event is a coming out party for the Asian giant and will see Xi outline China’s plans to forge a new global economic order by drawing on the millennia-old tradition of the Silk Road trading route. In truth, the summit is just the latest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[34],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6732"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6732"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6734,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6732\/revisions\/6734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}