China Funds Most of China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences (CPJRC) at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAM)

Project narrative

On September 30, 2019, the China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences (CPJRC) was officially established at Quaid-i-Azam University. According to media sources, the project was worth Rs 8.4 billion with Rs 5.4 billion funded by the Chinese Government. On the CPEC Data Sharing Platform for Resources, Environment, Ecology and Disaster, the Ministry of Sciences and technology of China (MOST), Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), China Earthquake Administration, and National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) are listed as supporting organizations from China. It is not clear if any of these organizations provided funding. The research institute was established through an MoU signed by the Pakistani Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in November 2018. The center was first proposed in 2016 by the CAS. According to the official CPJRC website, the aim of CPJRC is to study and evaluate the impact of geo-hazards and climate change on the security of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and sustainable development of the region. It will lead to development of instruments for risk analysis, hazard mitigation, resource management, ecosystem and environment protection, thereby improving socio-economic development of Pakistan. As of April 2022, the construction of the physical center seems to be ongoing, although the center has already began operation through online collaboration. The groundbreaking ceremony for the CPJRC was held in October 2023.