Work is set to begin on a £1.5bn project highway project connecting two of the world’s most populous countries.
The Karakorum Highway links China’s western Xinjiang province with Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad.
The 810-mile-long road stretches through some of the most gruelling terrain in Asia, including the Hindu Kush mountains and the Karakorum Range.
The original road took almost 20 years to build and provides a vital overland route between China and its southern neighbour, which is home to 235 million people.
The route serves as a vital part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a land and sea project that China hopes will shorten the link between the country and the energy it imports from the Middle East – meaning it would be harder to blockade in the event of a major war.
The road, which includes the highest point of paved road anywhere on the planet, has required constant maintenance over the years.
The environment it is in means it can often be blocked by landslides, mudslips and flooding which can sometimes take some time to clear.
However, the stretch of the road the new project – which is being paid for with a £1.5bn loan from China – is replacing now faces ending up permanently underwater.
This is due to ongoing work by Pakistan to build a number of dams in the area which are scheduled to come online by the end of the decade – which will leave the stretch of highway between Thakot to Raikot submerged.
These include the Diamer-Bhasha dam, which is set to be completed in 2028 and which will generate electricity, store drinking water for Pakistan and help prevent the devastating floods of the Indus River.
As well as money for the highway project, China is also set to supply the contractors to carry out the work and is drawing up a list of acceptable contractors for Pakistan to choose from.