ISLAMABAD -- Two decades of Chinese lending to Pakistan totaled about $21 billion more than previously thought, a study revealed this week, while also showing that the cash-strapped South Asian country has the biggest China-funded energy portfolio in the world.
AidData, a research institute at William and Mary University in the U.S., calculated Pakistan's cumulative public debt exposure to China at $67.2 billion for the period from 2000 to 2021. That surpasses the $46 billion recorded for the same period in the World Bank's International Debt Statistics, based on voluntary disclosures from Pakistan.
