Pakistan military spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa speaks at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Courtesy of the Pakistani Embassy

The first cargo shipment along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be able to travel from China to the port of Gwadar at the end of the year, a spokesperson for Pakistan's military said Tuesday.

The $46 billion CPEC project connects the city of Kashi in western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to Gwadar on the southwestern coast of Pakistan by highway and by rail.

On Tuesday, ground was broken on the CPEC western route's first phase, a 285-kilometer motorway from Dera Ismail Khan to Hakla, according to the Daily Times.

"We will have an entire infrastructure connected by the end of the year," Pakistan military spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa said at a news briefing during Pakistani army chief General Raheel Sharif's official visit to Beijing.

Bajwa dismissed concerns about security in Pakistan, citing the military's integration into all security mechanisms and giving assurances about military efforts in areas along the path of the CPEC, where resistance has been voiced in recent years. "Those resistance groups will eventually fade away. It's just a matter of time. It's very insignificant and is not able to impede the work, anyway," Bajwa said.

Chinese Premiere Li Keqiang and Vice President of the Central Military Commission Fan Changlong met General Sharif on Monday.

The spokesperson said that the general's visit to Beijing has cemented measures to ensure the security of the CPEC and to improve overall military cooperation as well as defense technology and intelligence sharing with China.