China–Pakistan border

A provisional line

The border runs about 325 miles south-east from the Afghan tripoint to the Karakoram Pass, through some of the highest mountains on Earth: the Karakoram’s Rimo–Baltoro glacier complex sits on the line, ringed by peaks up to 28,250 feet. In 1899 Britain proposed the so-called Macdonald line to China, which never accepted it.^[1]

After Chinese maps in 1959 showed large areas west and south of that line as Chinese, Pakistan offered talks. The agreement signed in Beijing on 2 March 1963 describes the boundary between Xinjiang and “the contiguous areas, the defense of which is under actual control of Pakistan”. Because India claims those areas as part of Jammu and Kashmir, the line is provisional: Article VI provides for renegotiation once the dispute is settled. In places the 1963 line runs well east of the Macdonald line.^[1]

“the contiguous areas, the defense of which is under actual control of Pakistan”^[1]

Khunjerab

The Khunjerab Pass links Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan with Xinjiang and is the entry point for the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. Heavy snow used to limit it to April through November, but on 22 April 2025 it was opened for trade and travel all year round.^[2]