Chinese input to Pakistan highway

Pakistan and China are poised to enhance the Karakoram Highway (KKH)
By Abdul Rab Siddiqi April 16, 2025 Read time: 2 mins
China will work with Pakistan on a major highway project


A delegation of financial and technical experts, led by the chairman of the National Highways Authority (NHA) from the Ministry of Communication, Government of Pakistan, will travel to China this month to finalise the implementation terms for the KKH project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Minister Ahsan Iqbal reaffirmed the government’s commitment to expediting the KKH project, describing it as a time-sensitive strategic initiative due to the construction of the Diamer Basha Dam, according to a government official note.

The highway connects the Pakistani provinces of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan with China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. One of the key projects under CPEC aims to upgrade the 887 km route into an all-weather highway.

In related news, Chinese Consul General Yang Yundong recently stated that China and Pakistan are focused on completing the Karakoram Highway (KKH). Last September, China agreed to assist Pakistan with four major projects in the transportation and communications sectors. The two countries plan to collaborate on the second phase of the KKH and the construction of roads connecting Kaghan- Naran, Jhal Khand, Babusar Top, and the Tunnel to KKH.

Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee approved a US$2 billion project under Chinese funding to reconstruct, upgrade, and improve the Karakoram Highway in northern Pakistan. This initiative is part of the $60 billion China—Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Moreover, China will provide the contractors and construction machinery necessary for the work. The Chinese side will deliver the project under an engineering, design, procurement, and construction (EPC) package.

China Communications Construction Company Ltd completed KKH Phase II (Havelian - Thakot Section), a section of the upgrade program that began in September 2016. The Prime Minister inaugurated the Havelian-Mansehra Section on 18 November 2019, while the CM KPK inaugurated the Mansehra-Thakot Section on 28 July 2020. The current visits of NHA will determine the future upgradation program of KKH.

 

Road Structures

Related Content

  • Cowi wins Massey Tunnel design
    July 22, 2022
    Cowi has won a contract as owner's engineer for an eight-lane replacement immersed tunnel under the Fraser River near the Pacific coast city of Vancouver. Cowi said it will draw on its experience designing the original four-lane George Massey Tunnel in 1959 and whose removal the engineering firm will later oversee.
    Read More
  • IL&FS get LoI for US$263.9mn Kiratpur Ner Chowk Expressway contract
    March 15, 2013
    Kiratpur Ner Chowk Expressway has given IL&FS Engineering Services (IL&FS) a letter of intent (LoI) for an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract in India worth US$263.9 million (INR 14.36bn). Under the deal, IL&FS will undertake a scope of work including minor bridges, five tunnels, 18 major bridges, toll plazas, 67.3km of road work and related infrastructure. The expressway project includes the EPC contract as well as expanding the Kiratpur Ner Chowk section of the National Highway 21 in
    Read More
  • Chinese firms to build three motorways in Serbia covering a combined 190km
    January 4, 2013
    Chinese companies are to take part in a number of motorway construction projects in Serbia, according to the country’s ministry of construction and urbanism. The routes will cover a combined 190km and follow the Serbian government’s December 2012 signing of a pre-contract deal for the construction of the Lajkovac-Ljig and Obrenovac-Ub sections of the Corridor 11 motorway, worth US$333 million, with the representatives of the Chinese firm Shandong High Speed Corporation. The two parts are part of the future
    Read More
  • Indian road paving record set
    June 20, 2022
    A road paving record has been set in India.
    Read More

Highlighted Content