“A bridge will fly to span the north and south, turning a deep chasm into a thoroughfare”, the poem by Mao Zedong depicts the benefits of transportation facilities to human life. Now, with the implementation of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, more transportation infrastructures such as railways, roads and bridges are changing from blueprints to thoroughfares that improve people’s life in various countries along the belt and road. In January 2017, ICBC’s institution in Pakistan provided local financing to one of the projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Pakistan’s first urban rail transit project, offering short-term financing of Rs.1.36 billion (USD 13 million).

The Lahore rail transit orange line project supported by ICBC is the first large-scale rail transit project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the strategic framework of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, and Pakistan’s first urban rail transit project. The project is around 26 kilometers long, and will be designed and built based on Chinese standards. All vehicles and electromechanical systems will be sourced from China. The project is located in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city and an important industrial center, where rail transit projects have been conceived since the 1990s to solve urban traffic issues. Upon completion, the project will facilitate local residents’ travel and guide other projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

As the only Chinese-funded bank, ICBC’s institution in Pakistan highlighted the role of financial services in driving the development China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. By providing quality financial services to project construction and Chinese enterprise going global, the institution has become the most extensively and deeply involved institution in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor with the most significant achievements. Up to now, ICBC has extended a loan to the DAWOOD Wind Power Project in Pakistan (the first project loan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), acted as the financial advisor for the Corridor’s first large-scale coal-electricity integration project, and provided export buyer credit financing for Sachal Wind Power Project.

ICBC established institution in Pakistan in 2011. As of the end of 2016, its total assets, total liabilities and net profit had respectively increased by 3844%, 3662% and 394% compared to 2011. The compound growth rates over the past five years were 109%, 107% and 57%, making it the largest foreign bank in Pakistan by asset and profitability. Over the past five years, the institution has provided financial services to hundreds of Chinese and Pakistani enterprises, covering domestic and foreign currency settlement, trade financing, project financing, investment and financing consultancy. Customers include government agencies, large multinational companies and local quality enterprises in Pakistan, covering extensive industries including energy, oil and gas, communications, medicine, building materials, automotive, food, and textile.