KARACHI: Pakistan is in discussions with China’s CATL, the world’s largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer, over potential investment and cooperation in advanced battery technologies, Pakistan’s ambassador to Beijing said this week, as Islamabad pushes to attract industrial investment under the next phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
China remains Pakistan’s largest strategic and economic partner, with the two countries deepening cooperation through CPEC, the flagship Pakistan arm of China’s Belt and Road Initiative launched in 2015. The first phase of CPEC focused largely on power generation, roads and transport infrastructure, while the second phase has increasingly shifted toward industrial cooperation, technology transfer, manufacturing, agriculture and special economic zones.
Pakistan has recently intensified efforts to attract Chinese private-sector investment as it seeks to stabilize its economy under an IMF-backed reform program and position itself as a regional manufacturing and logistics hub.
“Pakistan and China have made significant progress in strengthening bilateral economic cooperation with more than 300 Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) and over three dozen joint venture agreements signed during the last two years, carrying a cumulative value exceeding $13 billion,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi said during a meeting on Monday with a Chinese business delegation at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Highlighting emerging opportunities in energy and technology, Hashmi said Pakistan was “currently engaged in active discussions with CATL,” which he described as one of the world’s largest battery manufacturers specializing in lithium-ion and increasingly sodium-based battery technologies.
“He said Pakistan is encouraging the company to establish cooperation and investment initiatives in the country, expressing optimism that concrete developments may emerge during the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister to China,” according to a statement released by the Karachi Chamber.
Global demand for EV batteries and energy storage systems has surged in recent years as governments and industries transition toward cleaner energy and electric mobility. CATL, headquartered in China, is the world’s dominant EV battery producer and supplies major global automakers including Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen and Ford.
Pakistan has increasingly positioned itself as a potential destination for battery manufacturing and mineral processing investment, particularly as global attention shifts toward supply chains linked to electric vehicles, renewable energy and energy storage.
Hashmi said the global market was gradually moving from lithium-ion batteries toward sodium-based battery technologies and noted that Pakistan possessed “abundant raw materials required for such industries.”
“Pakistan aims to capitalize on the first-mover advantage in this evolving sector and is working steadily toward attracting investment in advanced battery manufacturing and new energy technologies,” the statement said, quoting the ambassador.
Hashmi also said Pakistan had established a mechanism to improve implementation of Chinese investment agreements, adding that nearly 30 percent of signed MoUs were now being converted into practical contracts and business ventures.
