China will invest $46 billion in Pakistan to expand its energy and transport infrastructure.

Chinese president Xi Jinping unveiled the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) investment plan this week.

The project proposes the construction of road, rail and pipelines to trim thousands of kilometres off the route to transport oil from the Middle East to China.

The new route through Pakistan will allow China to bypass India.

The upgrade will cover 3,000 kilometres of new roads (about $11 billion worth) from the Pakistani port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea to China's western city of Kashgar.

The two nations also plan to cooperate in gas, coal and solar energy projects to the tune of 16,400 megawatts of new electricity.

They will effectively double Pakistan’s electricity capacity.

$28 billion worth of projects were ready to be signed during Mr Xi's visit, but some international analysts say the huge figures being trumpeted during Mr Xi’s visit are too good to be true.

A spokesperson from the Jinnah Institute think tank says there is a big difference between announcing the plans actually turning such massive infrastructure projects into reality.

Several provinces earmarked for projects struggle with separatist insurgency and other security issues.