In collaboration with the School of Environment at Tsinghua University, the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) organized dialogue in Beijing on green development and also launched a policy paper –From Policy to Practice: Operationalizing Green Special Economic Zones under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) via Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs) lessons – that highlight that their success hinges on integrating environmental, social, and economic goals, fostering collaboration among firms and stakeholders.
The dialogue gathered policymakers, researchers, and industry experts to set out a practical roadmap for green Special Economic Zones in Pakistan. State Minister for Climate Change Dr Shezra Mansab Ali Kharal; PCI Executive Director Mustafa Hyder Sayed; Professor Tian Jinping; Prof Xu Tianqi; Board of Investment (BOI) Additional Secretary Dr Erfa Iqbal; Associate Professor Bi Kejia; and Senior Researcher at PCI Muhammad Umar Farooq joined the gathering.
The paper – authored by Mustafa Hyder Sayed, Muhammad Umar Farooq, and Professor Tian Jinping – adapts lessons from China’s eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs) for the Special Economic Zones with a focus on standards, shared infrastructure, finance, operations, and data. In his welcome remarks, Professor Tian Jinping said that China’s eco-industrial parks worked because they set clear standards, built shared utilities, and backed decisions with verified data. “When parks share treatment plants, steam, and heat-recovery systems, costs fall and compliance improves.”
Delivering the keynote, Dr Shezra Kharal said that they need to learn from China’s experience with eco-industrial parks and adapt it to their needs. She said that the green transition does not mean turning all lights off; it means turning better lights on. “Our goal is a competitive industry that uses fewer resources, cuts pollution, and creates good jobs. Policy alignment between the federation and provinces is essential so firms get one clear signal. We will support upgrades that save energy, recycle water, and manage waste safely,” she said, adding that Pakistan can grow industry while protecting public health and the environment.
In his opening remarks, Mustafa Hyder Sayed said their focus was practical implementation, and not theory. “Green SEZs will succeed when cleaner production lowers operating costs for firms. That means bankable shared utilities, simple rules for SME participation, and incentives tied to verified performance.” The paper lays out how authorities can standardize contracts, and make data-sharing routine. “We emphasize coordination across ministries so approvals and support instruments move together,” he said, and called it a realistic roadmap for pilots in 2025 that can scale within the CPEC framework.
Providing an overview of the paper, Muhammad Umar Farooq said that China’s journey shows a simple sequence: start with pilots, write a standard, finance shared systems, train operators, and then raise the bar. Early cases like the Guitang sugar complex turned bagasse, heat, and residues into inputs for paper, cement, and power. Later, the parks such as TEDA rebuilt the ‘invisible pipes’ with shared utilities and digital matchmaking for by-products. In 2008, the circular-economy law gave parks legal backing to exchange materials and run joint treatment plants, and standards tightened after 2015.
Three streams i.e., eco-industrial standards, circular transformation, and low-carbon programs moved in one direction: do more with less. The lesson for Pakistan is to pilot, measure, certify what works, and scale with simple, verifiable numbers, contract by contract. On investment enablement, Dr Erfa Iqbal said that the prime minister’s visit has brought over 300 Pakistani companies to China to build partnerships. She said that SMEs often lack capital and technical capacity, so they were designing tools that level the field. She also said that BOI would standardize performance contracts for efficiency and pollution control so firms know exactly what to deliver.
On financing models, Xu Tianqi said that Pakistan should nominate two SEZs as green pilots in 2025–26 and build a blended-finance stack. He said that the policy-bank concessional lines can fund core shared infrastructure like wastewater treatment and steam networks. He said that the provincial or sovereign guarantees would de-risk construction and bring down borrowing costs. “Performance-based subsidies should be tied to verified savings in energy, water, and emissions. Carbon-revenue monetization from methane abatement, waste-heat recovery, or co-processing can strengthen cash flows.”
From an operations perspective, Professor Bi Kejia said that non-negotiable KPIs for a Green SEZ include a measurable by-product exchange rate, GHG intensity per unit of output, park-level water-reuse ratio, and safe co-processing of hazardous waste. “These should be tracked monthly and disclosed on a simple dashboard. Incentives should reward continuous improvement, tariff rebates for high reuse, and bonus-malus service fees linked to verified KPI gains. Shared maintenance services will help SMEs keep equipment running and compliant. This is how you turn targets into daily practice.”
Commenting on the partnership, Liu Shuming, Dean at Tsinghua University, said that the industry wants solutions that were measurable, financeable, and reliable in operations. He said that the park-level utilities make compliance cheaper when they were designed once and used by many firms. “Data that is easy to verify builds trust with investors and regulators. Standards give parks a common language, while training ensures teams can run systems safely,” he said. “We see strong potential for Pakistan to adapt these elements through focused pilots. Tsinghua will continue to support research and capacity building for this agenda.”
