China, Pak plan to upgrade vital railway link

China and Pakistan have agreed to jointly modernize 1,600-kilometer vital railway link connecting southern and northern Pakistan as part of a move to push forward construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

"China and Pakistan have signed memorandums of understanding to increase the speed of the railway connecting Karachi and Peshawar, as well as upgrade its signal system and railway stations," the China Daily quoted Zafaruddin Mahmood, Pakistan's special envoy on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as saying.

It also include the construction of the Havelian land port on the Karakoram Highway that connects Pakistan and Kashgar in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The envoy said that goods shipped from China can be loaded from trucks to trains from the Havelian land port.

He further said that two sides are working to improve Islamabad's capabilities in land surveying by planning to launch a satellite.

China will also help Pakistan build an international airport in Gwadar and a highway connecting the deep-sea port to the airport.

He said China will help Pakistan increase its electricity supply by 80 percent in the next five years.