ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is likely to secure soft loans from China of about one billion dollar this week for three road projects included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an official said on Wednesday.

According to Ashraf Zaman, Spokesman for Pakistan’s National Highway Authority (NHA), the roads lie on the Western Route of CPEC, a $55 billion network of roads, rail links, power plants and other infrastructure connecting western China to Pakistan’s southern port of Gwadar.

They include roads from Raikot to Thakot, Yarik to Zhob and from Basima to Khuzdar, Zaman said.

Zaman said a deal was reached with the Chinese to finance the three additional roads in November.

“Hopefully, an agreement to this effect will be signed between the two countries during China Pakistan Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting to be held on Thursday in Beijing,” he said.

The $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project focuses on road building and energy infrastructure to end chronic power shortages in Pakistan and to link China’s landlocked north-west with the deep-water port Gwadar on the Arabian Sea.