On October 28, 2024, the China-Pakistan Research and Development Center for Modern Agriculture and Efficient Water Technologies was completed at the PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR).

The center was jointly established by National Research Center of Efficient Irrigation Engineering and Technology-Xinjiang, Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) and PMAS-AAUR. The center relied on the existing scientific research resources and expert team advantages of co-construction units, in virtue of industry-academia-research collaboration to promote the research and development of efficient and water-saving agricultural technologies between China and Pakistan, deepen academic exchanges, carries out technology integration application demonstration and cultivating high technicians, explore and form an efficient and water-saving agricultural model suitable for Pakistani agricultural development needs, boost the establishment of an industrial system suitable for Pakistani water-saving agricultural products and equipment, deepen China-Pakistan friendship, improve Pakistani agricultural production level, increase crop output, ensure food security.

According to the actual needs of China-Pakistan water-saving scientific research and development, the center has upgraded and rebuild the existing scientific research conditions of PMAS-AAUR and equipped with relevant scientific instruments. The center has would focus on "1 Center + 3 Labs +2 Bases" to further strengthen the scientific research basic capacity construction, namely, Modern Agriculture & Efficient Water Technologies (CMAEWT), Irrigation Engineering Laboratory, Soil and Fertigation Laboratory, High-Efficiency Water-Saving Training Room, Agricultural Engineering Teaching and Research Demonstration Base and PMAS Experimental Farm Research Demonstration Base of Arid Agricultural University. The Center has been used as a platform to deepen the integration and innovative development of scientific research teams from both sides, and contribute to the efficient development of water-saving agriculture in China and Pakistan.

At the opening ceremony of the Center, Mr. Ding Lianjun, Project Director of National Research Center of Efficient Irrigation Engineering and Technology-Xinjiang, China, Mr. Shahid Nazir, Director General of Green Pakistan Initiative and Professor Muhammad Naeem, Vice President of PMAS-AAUR, jointly announced the establishment. Mr. Shahid Nazir said that Pakistan-China friendship was higher than mountains, deeper than oceans, stronger than steel and sweeter than honey and emphasized food security was the biggest challenge in Pakistan, he said it is time to transform traditional agriculture into precision and smart agriculture to greatly increase food production and agricultural productivity. He also deeply appreciated the Chinese scientific research team and all the staff of PMAS-AAUR for supporting the construction of the center. He also stressed that the GPI would fully support the construction of the center, and jointly made contributions to national development and food security.

Mr. Yang Guangyuan, Minister-Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, extended congratulations on the completion of the center through a recorded video message. He emphasized that the ceremony represents a new beginning for agricultural cooperation between our two countries. Pakistan possesses significant advantages in agriculture, which constitutes 24% of its GDP. Mr. Yang expressed his sincere hope that this center would provide new impetus to such cooperation and conveyed his best wishes for this project to achieve great success in the future.

Mr. Ding Lianjun, Project Director of National Research Center of Efficient Irrigation Engineering and Technology-Xinjiang, China, said that China would take the development of efficient water-saving agriculture as the main line, and actively promote agricultural industry-wide collaborative innovation cooperation such as land development, crop varieties, efficient cultivation, agricultural machinery, integration of water and fertilizer, and talent development. China-Pakistan Research and Development Center for Modern Agriculture and Efficient Water Technologies was an important scientific and technological support for Pakistani agricultural modernization, as well as a scientific and technological innovation platform carrying China-Pakistan friendship. Through the joint efforts of scientific and technological staff from both sides, this would certainly open a new chapter for efficient and water-saving agriculture in Pakistan.

Prof. Muhammad Naeem, Vice Chancellor of PMAS-AAUR, warmly welcomed the participants and stressed the aims and objectives of the Centre. He hoped the centre would contribute to improve the level of agricultural productivity in Pakistan through efficient use of water resources, and appreciated GPI and China for supporting PMAS-AAUR research and innovation capacity building by establishing the center in PMAS-AAUR.