Quiet engine of CPEC 2.0 reshaping Pakistan’s industry

BEIJING, July 30 (APP):For Ameer Hamza, vocational training received in China opened a door he never thought possible. As a student of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad Community College, he took part in the Sino-Pak Dual Diploma Program in Modern Agriculture Technology and studied at Beijing Bailie University in 2022.

Upon returning home, Hamza joined a local firm partnering with Chinese suppliers, earning approximately Rs140,000 per month, well above Pakistan’s average salary for vocational graduates.

Hamza’s story is the human face of the expanding China-Pakistan technical and vocational education and training (TVET) cooperation. In December 2024, the Pakistani Embassy in China hosted the 1st China-Pakistan TVET Forum in Beijing. Over the past seven months alone, four TVET events were convened by the Embassy, underscoring Islamabad’s vigorous push to nurture local technical talent with China’s assistance.

Massive Skills Gap

Pakistan faces a far steeper shortage of skilled workers than widely assumed. Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives, recently shared at a TVET Symposium in China that only 6% of Pakistan’s workforce holds formal vocational qualifications, while annual TVET enrollment stands at just 458,000.

Research further quantifies this crisis: Only 2.5% of young Pakistanis receive structured on-the-job training, and formal TVET serves fewer than 15% of the three million youth joining the labor force annually.

Take the electric vehicle (EV) sector, for example. Under its National Electric Vehicle Policy 2025-30, Pakistan targets 30% electric vehicle penetration by 2030. Yet, as Iqbal pointed out, the country lacks the capacity to train workers across the EV supply chain, from battery cell manufacturing and management to recycling and after-sales service.

“Our labor productivity is one of the lowest among regional peers, and over 80% of our employment remains informal. This is the gap we must close, and close urgently,” Iqbal stressed.

Strategic Fit

The robust China-Pakistan TVET ties stem from the alignment between the upgraded version of CPEC 2.0 and Pakistan’s National Economic Transformation Plan (2024-2029) (URAAN Pakistan). This high-level synergy advances systematic TVET cooperation along three core pillars: infrastructure rollout, workforce development, and institutional frameworks.

The $10 million Pak-China Technical and Vocational Institute (PCTVI) in Gwadar, a Chinese donation, became operational in 2023. It continuously supplies qualified technicians for Gwadar Port, free economic zones, special economic zones, New Gwadar International Airport and other key CPEC projects.

A full lineup of China-backed vocational workshops has also opened nationwide, targeting a wave of emerging and strategic industrial sectors. These include Luban Workshops on electromechanics & electrical automation and modern agriculture, China-Pakistan New Energy Vehicle High-Skilled Talent Training Centre of Excellence, China-Pakistan Postal and Courier Workshop, National Centre of Excellence for New Energy Vehicles (Luban-Mozi College), Silk Road Digital Trade Institute, Panda Workshop for cultural creation and Kaiwu Workshop focused on live commerce.

The launch of the China-Pakistan TVET-Industrial Center of Excellence (CPTICE) in November 2024 marked an institutional shift, replacing scattered training with a permanent, industry-driven platform.

“I think that is the only sustainable way of working,” said Gulmina Bilal Ahmad, Chairperson of the National Vocational & Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) of Pakistan. “Before, the support and the ideas were very sporadic. Now they are well planned and executed, and we are also looking at the regional industrial demands of different parts of the country and then responding accordingly.”

Way Forward

In their Joint Statement on May 26, 2026, China committed to delivering on the plan of offering 3,000 training opportunities to Pakistan between 2025 and 2029, and Pakistan commends China’s cooperation philosophy of “giving people both fish and fishing skills”.

The philosophy is also reflected in China’s TVET support. “China’s mature vocational standards, technical assets, faculty frameworks and certification mechanisms are being transferred and adapted to Pakistan, helping the country build its own modern TVET system and become a premier training and exporting hub for skilled labor,” stated Li Jinsong, Chinese Side Chair of CPTICE at the 2nd Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference.

According to the Pakistani Embassy in China, Pakistan has identified 21 priority industrial sectors open to Chinese investment, spanning heavy industries, renewable energy, advanced electronics, semiconductors and ICT, forming a clear industrial roadmap guiding future vocational training. Gulmina Bilal Ahmad also told China Economic Net that mining, intelligent manufacturing, artificial intelligence, allied health services and traditional Chinese medicine will serve as core cooperation tracks.

When questioned over possible challenges, Ahmad voiced full confidence in the bilateral collaboration. “Pakistan and China have deep friendship. We share common goals. Most importantly, there is mutual respect for each other’s systems,” she noted. “If there is any task requiring immediate attention, it is how Pakistan can capitalize on the digital opportunities offered by China.”