Bilateral relations augment between China and Pakistan

China and Pakistan are showing interests in increasing their bilateral communications through business venture this time. It is the Shandong Ruyi Technology Group of China which has initiated by procuring 1,036 acres of land in an industrial zone is Pakistan.

Shandong Ruyi, the fifth largest textile company of China, will establish a 600,000-spindle cotton spinning factory in the one fourth land of the industrial estate run by the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC). The $2billion investment made by the company will surely gain momentum as the factory would be the largest spinning unit in Pakistan.

Overall, 72 percent of land has been sold in the M3 Industrial City, one of the largest schemes in the country. Many leading industrialists of the city, known as Manchester of Pakistan, have also acquired big pieces of land for setting up industrial units.

650 mills will be established in the industrial estate. Few of them have already started working including the steel mill. They will receive uninterrupted electricity supply from a 100MW coal-based power plant that the management will develop.

According to officials, the firm will name its part of the project as “Shandong Ruyi Textile Park”. The textile park will create job opportunities for thousands of people, estimated at more than 35,000. Shandong Ruyi has its own cotton fields in Australia and Vietnam from where it will import cotton to meet the needs of the spinning mill.

To meet its energy requirements and avoid disruption of work, the company will install a 135-megawatt coal-based power plant to run its unit. After fulfilling its requirements, the company plans to sell surplus electricity to other industrial units.

Amir Saleemi, Chief Operating Officer of FIEDMC commented on this saying that this provides a huge opportunity to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply for running industrial units. According to him, the spinning mill will have an annual capacity to produce 157,000 tons of yarn, 500 million metres of Batik fabric, 100 million metres of denim fabric and 10 million pieces of jeans.

The Chinese group would also provide energy to other textile units, easing the pressure on Sui Northern Gas Pipelines, he said, terming it a big project that would open doors to employment opportunities and bring foreign exchange.

The group has split the project into two phases. In the first phase, it will set up the largest textile mill and in the second phase workshops and equipment, vending and packing units will be established over an area of 536 acres. Apartments for employees will be built over 200 acres of land as per international standards.

To facilitate new investors, FIEDMC has sold plots on installments spread over four years, a period when investors will be able to build their units and start production, making it easier for them to pay installments. Saleemi says our motive is ‘pay as you earn’

This is a gigantic project which will play a vital role in boosting national output. It will take at least two years before big industries become operational