Chinese President Xi Jinping was due in Pakistan on Monday where he was to launch $46 billion in projects linking the old allies, a figure that far exceeds U.S. spending in Pakistan and underscores China's projection of power in Asia.

The infrastructure and energy projects are aimed at establishing a Pakistan-China Economic Corridor between Pakistan's southern Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea and China's western Xinjiang region.

The plan reflected a shift of economic power in the region from the West to China, said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Pakistani parliament's defence committee.