Ningxia Hui, Punjab sister ties to deepen cooperation in agriculture

NINGXIA, Aug 18 (APP):The fifth China-Arab States Expo will be physically unveiled tomorrow in Ningxia Hui autonomous region, a sister province of Punjab, in northwestern China.

The world can benefit from the agricultural research work being done in Ningxia, Dr. Muhammad Ali Talpur, an economist at the Ministry of National Food Security & Research (MNFSR), in his message.

Impressed by the modern agriculture of Yinchuan, Ningxia’s capital city, he anticipates fruitful results from this year’s expo, which will be held both offline and online amid the pandemic.

“It is a great forum to share the experience and expand cooperation in the agricultural sector for the betterment of the people in China, Arab, Pakistan, and the rest of the world.

Apart from a conference featuring modern agriculture to be held on Aug 20th, the Expo also presents green food and smart agricultural technologies in its cloud exhibition, which has attracted thousands of companies worldwide.

Agricultural products in Ningxia, such as goji berry (wolfberry), organic vegetables, honey, milk, etc. have been increasingly popular in the international market. For instance, it is now exporting US$ 60 million of goji annually to over 30 countries and regions.

“I never run out of goji”, said Kassem Tofailli, President of Arab Chinese Cooperation and Development Association (ACCDA) in an exclusive interview with CEN, with goji right inside his cup.

“In the winter, I always have Babao Tea (assorted Chinese herbal tea).
After establishing the agricultural technology transfer center between China and Arab countries,

Ningxia has set up a sub-center in Pakistan, focusing on building the Islamabad Pavilion of Featured Agricultural Products of Ningxia and cross-border e-commerce service platform to display its high-quality agricultural products and advanced agricultural machinery and equipment.

An online mall has been put in place to promote agricultural trade with neighboring countries. Technical experts have also been sent to Pakistan for agri-technological exchanges. In 2006, Ningxia formed sister ties with Punjab.

It is reported that this is the fifth consecutive time for the Expo to incorporate agricultural cooperation. The past four conferences have witnessed the conclusion of nearly fifty agricultural agreements involving over RMB 1.1 billion.

While the online session of the expo has been unveiled on Aug 5th, the offline session of the Expo will be inaugurated on Aug 19th.

With the theme of Deepening economic and trade cooperation, jointly building the Belt and Road, the four-day expo will set sight on cooperation among the BRI countries in agriculture, trade and investment, energy, water resources, digital technology, tourism and health.