BEIJING: A Chinese scholar has stressed for construction of agriculture development zone along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to produce high-quality agriculture products.
“China and Pakistan can jointly produce high-quality agricultural products such as soybean, cotton, peanuts, grapes, olive oil, citrus, mango, pomegranate, and strawberry, and then export them to China, which has the potential to generate around US $12 billion a year for Pakistan,”
Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Senior Fellow of the Chahar Institute told China Economic Net.
He said Southern China’s Guangdong province was now focusing on economic cooperation with South Asian countries, including Pakistan.
The province took the lead in reform and opening-up, paying special attention to the research and development of new technologies in the fields of industry and agriculture, its climate was warm, similar to Pakistan, and its new crop varieties and cultivation technology were very suitable for Pakistan, he added.
He informed that Yuan Longping, a Chinese agricultural scientist, was the pioneer of hybrid rice research and development in China and was known as the "father of hybrid rice” in the world.
“China is also a traditional producer of soybeans and maize. For a long time, China has accumulated advanced planting technology and management experience, which it is willing to share with Pakistan,” he added.
Cheng observed that China and Pakistan were countries which place great importance on agriculture. Pakistan's budget this year had substantially increased investment in agriculture, hence there was great potential for cooperation in agriculture between China and Pakistan.
In his perspective, water conservancy infrastructure construction was very important and Guangdong’s enterprises could cooperate fully with Pakistan.
He said another key area for growth was the deep-processing of agricultural products, which could bring enormous economic benefits.
Therefore, China and Pakistan should work together to develop deep-processing of agricultural products.
The Chinese scholar informed that Guangdong enterprises had advanced deep-processing machinery and excellent technology.
They could invest in the deep-processing industry of agricultural products and create conditions for Pakistani agricultural products to increase value and open up international markets.
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