Check Which CPEC Special Economic Zones Are Under Construction in Pakistan: 4 Zones, 5 Planned
The CPEC Secretariat lists 9 special economic zones in Pakistan: 4 under construction and 5 planned. See acreage, dates and what to check before you buy a plot.
The CPEC Secretariat lists nine China-linked special economic zones in Pakistan. Four are under construction: Rashakai in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Allama Iqbal Industrial City in Punjab, Dhabeji in Sindh and Bostan in Balochistan. Five are still in the pipeline. Only Rashakai's page says plots have been launched for investors.
We read the CPEC Secretariat's industrial cooperation page and each zone's own detail page on 14 October 2026. The page footer is dated 2024 and the progress notes carry no date, so treat them as the official position, not as a site visit. We did not visit any zone.
Four CPEC zones are under construction and five are planned
The CPEC Secretariat splits its zone list into two groups. Under construction: Rashakai Special Economic Zone, Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Dhabeji Special Economic Zone and Bostan Special Economic Zone. In the pipeline: the ICT Model Industrial Zone, an industrial park on Pakistan Steel Mill land, Mirpur Industrial Zone, Mohmand Marble City and Moqpondass Special Economic Zone.
A special economic zone, or SEZ, is a fenced industrial area with its own utilities and tax relief for the companies inside it. Pakistan's Board of Investment (BOI) says 44 SEZs are notified across the country. The CPEC list is a smaller group that has Chinese partners or Chinese-backed projects.
| Zone | Province | Status on CPEC page |
|---|---|---|
| Rashakai SEZ | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Under construction |
| Allama Iqbal Industrial City | Punjab | Under construction |
| Dhabeji SEZ | Sindh | Under construction |
| Bostan SEZ | Balochistan | Under construction |
| ICT Model Industrial Zone | Islamabad | In pipeline |
| Industrial park on Steel Mill land | Near Karachi (Port Qasim) | In pipeline |
| Mirpur Industrial Zone | Azad Jammu and Kashmir | In pipeline |
| Mohmand Marble City | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | In pipeline |
| Moqpondass SEZ | Gilgit-Baltistan | In pipeline |
Rashakai is the only zone that says plots are open
Rashakai SEZ covers 1,000 acres near Nowshera, on the M1 motorway about 60 km from Peshawar. A joint venture of China Road and Bridge Corporation and the provincial zone company builds it. The development agreement was signed on 14 September 2020 at a cost of US$128 million, and ground was broken on 28 May 2021.
Phase I, 247 acres, is developed and launched for investment. The page says many enterprises have registered but only a few have started building. That gap matters. A registered company is not a working factory. The sectors on offer include home appliances, pharmaceuticals, building materials, auto parts and agriculture.
Allama Iqbal Industrial City is the largest, at about 3,217 acres
Allama Iqbal Industrial City sits next to the M3 Industrial City in Faisalabad. The Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company builds it. Work has run since November 2019, and ground was broken on 3 January 2020 at an event the Prime Minister attended.
The CPEC page says national and international firms have been allotted plots, and a few have started construction and expect to begin operations soon. Focus sectors are textiles, engineering, electrical goods, chemicals and paints, food processing, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, packaging and building material.
Dhabeji and Bostan are earlier in their build
Dhabeji SEZ covers 1,530 acres in Thatta, planned as 750 acres in Phase I and 780 in Phase II. The concession agreement was signed on 25 February 2022 and ground was broken on 15 July 2023. Its pitch is location: an 8 km access road to Port Qasim is being developed, and Karachi airport is 35 km away. The page says utilities are being brought to the edge of the zone.
Bostan SEZ covers 1,000 acres in Pishin district, Balochistan. The page gives distances of 23 km to Quetta airport, 32 km to the Quetta dry port, 713 km to the Karachi seaport and 976 km to Gwadar. Planned clusters include fruit processing, halal food, agricultural machinery, motorbike assembly and ceramics. The page lists no signing or groundbreaking dates, so we cannot say how far work has gone.
Check a zone before you sign a plot agreement
Anyone thinking about a plot, a supply contract or a job in one of these zones should confirm the facts first. The steps below take about an hour.
- Open the zone's page on the CPEC Secretariat website and note its status group and acreage.
- Ask the zone company in writing which phase is open and whether plots in that phase have utilities connected.
- Check that the zone is notified, using the BOI's list of notified SEZs.
- Ask for the plot allotment letter and the lease terms before paying any booking amount.
- Match the incentives you were promised against the SEZ law. The BOI's own summary is set out in the SEZ Act benefits explainer.
- Keep every payment in a bank transfer to the zone company's named account.
Why the zones matter for the China relationship
Zones are where the second phase of CPEC is supposed to show up as factories and jobs. The May 2026 joint statement put industrial cooperation at the centre, and what both sides agreed is set out under CPEC 2.0. China also led foreign investment into Pakistan in July and August 2026, as the SBP investment figures show.
Those headlines are national. The zone pages are local. A plot is only worth buying when the roads, power and water in front of it are real. In the CPEC list, only some zones say so.
Common questions about CPEC special economic zones
How many CPEC special economic zones are there?
The CPEC Secretariat lists nine: four under construction and five in the pipeline. The BOI separately counts 44 notified SEZs in the whole country, which is a different list.
Which CPEC zone is the biggest?
Allama Iqbal Industrial City in Faisalabad, at about 3,217 acres. Dhabeji follows at 1,530 acres, then Rashakai and Bostan at 1,000 acres each.
Are plots open in Rashakai SEZ?
The CPEC page says Phase I, 247 acres, has been developed and launched for investment. It adds that few enterprises have started building. Ask the zone company which plots are free.
Where are the pipeline zones?
They are in Islamabad, near Karachi on Pakistan Steel Mill land, in Mirpur (Azad Jammu and Kashmir), in Mohmand (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and in Gilgit-Baltistan. The CPEC pages for most of them show a location only.
Who runs the CPEC zones?
Each has its own developer. Rashakai is run by a company formed by a Chinese contractor and a provincial zone company. Allama Iqbal Industrial City is built by the Faisalabad industrial estate company.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
Last checked 14 October 2026. Zone lists, acreage, dates and sector lists come from the CPEC Secretariat SEZ page and its zone detail pages. The count of 44 notified SEZs comes from the Board of Investment SEZ page. The CPEC progress notes are undated, so a zone may be further along than stated. We did not visit any zone and cannot confirm the number of working factories.
About the author
Global Affairs & Political Economy Writer
Muhammad Hatim is a book lover who started writing because he enjoys it. At Pakistan Era he writes about international relations, geopolitics and the global economy, with a particular interest in South Asia and the forces behind current events.
