A ship carrying containers are seen during the opening of a trade project in Gwadar port, west of Karachi on November 13, 2016. [Photo/China.org.cn]

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) made progress this year as the two countries strengthened cooperation.

There were positive steps in transport infrastructure, energy and education, according to a meeting of the CPEC's long-term planning body on Thursday.

In 2016, the two sides began the upgrading the Karakorum Highway from Havelian to Thakot and a highway linking Pakistan's largest cities of Karachi and Lahore.

Ten energy projects, including a coal-fired power plant in Sahiwal, began with total installed capacity to reach 7.3 million kw.

The building of Gwadar Port and its support facility accelerated, as well as the introduction of foreign investment into industrial parks.

The CPEC, proposed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in 2013, is a 3,000-km network of roads, railways and pipelines linking Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and southwest Pakistan's Gwadar Port.

The economic belt is also a major part of China's Belt and Road Initiative.