Symposium discusses crop analysis, sensible farming, schooling hyperlinks, poultry tasks
BEIJING:
The primary China-Pakistan Symposium on Schooling, Science and Industrial Cooperation was held on January 20, 2026, at COMSTECH headquarters in Islamabad, marking a renewed and extra built-in method to bilateral collaboration.
The assembly was chaired by Senior Professor Zhang Lixin of Northwest A&F College, Chairman of the Silkroad Biohealth Agricultural Trade Alliance and Chief Scientist and Director of the Shaanxi Belt and Street Joint Laboratory on Dryland Organic Assets and Inexperienced Good Agriculture, China. It was attended by Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi, who delivered the keynote tackle. Greater than 50 representatives from authorities companies, universities, analysis establishments and main enterprises from each nations participated.
In his opening remarks, Professor Zhang Lixin welcomed the various delegation, which included representatives from Shaanxi province, Chinese language nationwide media, school members and college students from Northwest A&F College, in addition to officers from Pakistan’s science and expertise authorities, universities and business.
Discussions targeted on agriculture, larger schooling and industrial cooperation. Representing Pakistan’s Federal Ministry of Science and Expertise, Shakil Arshad outlined ongoing collaborations in house science and conventional Chinese language drugs with Chinese language universities, together with Nanjing College and Xian Jiaotong College.
Agricultural consultants emphasised the urgency of collaborative innovation. Professor Muhammad Azam Khan, former director basic of Pakistan’s Nationwide Agriculture Analysis Heart, mentioned greater than 700 crop varieties developed by the council now cowl 80% of Pakistan’s farmland. He referred to as for enhanced cooperation with China in precision agriculture, sensible equipment and sesame value-chain growth. Professor Shah Nawaz Marri, Chairman of the Division of Plant Breeding and Genetics at Sindh Agriculture College, introduced plans to ascertain Pakistan’s first China-Pakistan Agricultural Cooperation Heart and expressed hope for joint analysis with China in areas comparable to pepper selection enchancment and the trade of germplasm sources for high-value crops.
Enterprise representatives outlined particular funding alternatives. Solar Lianfeng, Basic Supervisor of Baoji Haisheng Fashionable Agriculture, mentioned the corporate plans to introduce high-density apple cultivation applied sciences to Pakistan, which may enhance yields by 30% whereas decreasing water utilization by 80%. Feng Lianying, Basic Supervisor of Xianyang Kangda Fashionable Agriculture, confirmed that preparations have been actively underneath approach to spend money on trendy poultry farming amenities in Pakistan.
Instructional cooperation has already yielded tangible outcomes. Greater than 260 Pakistani college students are at present enrolled in agriculture-related majors at Northwest A&F College, whereas over 510 contributors have accomplished coaching programmes. Final 12 months and this 12 months, a complete of 10 Chinese language Silk Street graduate college students got here to Pakistan College for trade research, whereas two Pakistani graduate college students will go to China for coaching in sensible agricultural expertise.
In his closing remarks, Ambassador Khalil Hashmi described agriculture as a cornerstone of high-quality growth underneath the China-Pakistan Financial Hall, emphasising the sturdy complementarity between Pakistan’s sources and China’s technological strengths. He additionally mentioned {that a} main worldwide cooperation programme, accredited in December 2025, would offer a brand new platform for future collaboration.
The symposium was adopted by a 10-day sequence of visits by the Chinese language delegation throughout Islamabad, Lahore and different areas. Actions included participation in a Pakistan-China agriculture funding convention, website inspections of farms, meals processing and poultry amenities, and conferences with analysis establishments such because the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and the Ayub Agricultural Analysis Institute. A number of cooperation agreements have been signed and roadmaps have been established for joint laboratories, expertise switch centres and demonstration parks.
Collectively, the discussion board and follow-up visits reworked dialogue into sensible cooperation, strengthening people-to-people ties and laying a basis for a deeper China-Pakistan partnership as the 2 nations method the seventy fifth anniversary of diplomatic relations.
