On October 21, the opening ceremony for the third cohort of the training program under the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s Initiative for Capacity Building of 1,000 Agricultural Graduates in China was held at the South Campus of NWAFU. A total of 107 agricultural professionals from Pakistan will receive three months of training in modern agricultural technologies in Yangling. The initiative is a concrete step toward implementing the consensus reached by the leaders of China and Pakistan and deepening agricultural cooperation under the upgraded China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC 2.0). It also exemplifies the growing depth of cooperation between the two countries in agricultural education, science and technology as they mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Since the initiative was launched in April 2025, NWAFU has organized two cohorts, providing training to 355 young agricultural professionals from Pakistan. With 107 trainees in the third cohort, the total number of trainees hosted by the university under the initiative has reached 462. The program combines theoretical instruction, practical training, research guidance and cultural exchange, with systematic training in seed production and processing, livestock disease monitoring and control, animal breeding and genomics, crop breeding and genomics, and smart agricultural equipment.

Meanwhile, cooperation between NWAFU and Pakistan is expanding beyond talent development to collaborative research and industry partnerships. In July 2026, the “Belt and Road” Joint Laboratory for Biological Resources and Green Smart Agriculture in Arid Areas was inaugurated. The University of Sindh and the University of the Punjab, along with other Pakistani universities, have joined the Silk Road Agricultural Education & Sci-tech Innovation Alliance. Seven trainees from the first two cohorts have stayed at NWAFU to pursue doctoral degrees, while several others have established substantive partnerships with Chinese enterprises. The initiative has progressed steadily, with 194 trainees in the first cohort, 161 in the second and 107 in the third. It is helping cultivate successive cohorts of professionals to support Pakistan’s agricultural modernization and further strengthen the ironclad friendship between China and Pakistan.

Translated by: Tian Yiyun

Proofread by: Yan Xianhui