Global China Beyond the Map: Everyday Life along the Belt and Road

In this episode of Mapping Global China Conversations, we speak with Dr. Hasan H. Karrar, scholar of China, Central Asia and Pakistan, and Professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Rather than focusing on grand geopolitical narratives, this conversation explores how China’s global economic engagement is experienced on the ground, by local traders, border communities, and everyday market actors in Pakistan and Central Asia. Starting from the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), often described as the flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, Dr. Karrar examines what has actually changed:

– energy production and infrastructure

– underutilized ports and special economic zones

– uneven development and local disenfranchisement

– environmental and social impacts

– the limits of the “transit country” narrative

 

 The discussion then moves beyond Pakistan to Central Asia, highlighting how population size, regional politics, Russian influence, and border regimes shape China’s investments differently across regions. At the core of the conversation is a key question: What does “Global China” really mean when observed at the micro level? This interview invites us to move past abstract policy debates and look closely at the lived realities where global investments meet local lives.