Now, with a mammoth $46 billion investment, China plans to build a modern version of the Silk Road through Pakistan and beyond.

With the creation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a network of highways, rail roads and infrastructure projects spanning 1,800 miles from the Pakistani coastal port of Gwadar to China's far-western Xinjiang region, Beijing aims to transform global trade routes and increase its influence in South and Central Asia.

The investment is an extraordinary sum for Pakistan, where foreign direct investment totaled just $1.46 billion in the 2013 fiscal year.

It also far exceeds the $31 billion of aid given by the US since the 9/11 attacks.