The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is attaining a life of its own, finally, amid a lot of controversy. It seems that neither of the two countries is prepared to address the so many questions that are being raised. China, not a very articulate country anyway, has been forced to take notice of these concerns raised by the smaller provinces in Pakistan as well as some experts in the field.

On its part, the prime minister of Pakistan has stepped forward and called an All Parties Conference to address the grievances of at least the political stakeholders. Of course, all this has happened after various ministers of the federal government kept advising everybody to refrain from saying anything negative about the project or casting doubts of any kind.

At $46 billion, the CPEC is said to be China’s biggest ever overseas investment and the status holds true for the receiving country. It is part of "Beijing’s ambitious One Belt, One Road initiative" which is connected with China’s larger role in the region. This fact alone gives it certain credibility and the potential of being a game changer for Pakistan.

The economists within the country don’t seem too convinced. They are raising questions about the debt equity ratio and the lack of information on whether this is a loan or investment or both. Kaiser Bengali thinks the inclusion of power generation plants as a major part of the project was never conceived in the original design -- which was all about a "Gwadar-Kashgar economic corridor".

Andrew Small, an expert on Pak-China relations, thinks it is Beijing’s objective to "use the corridor to help build stability in Pakistan". This is one great hope that all Pakistanis share. Our Special Report today records the progress on CPEC so far.