News Desk
ISLAMABAD: Charge d’ Affairs of the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, Pang Chunxue said that cooperation in the field of Science and Technology (S&T) was an integral part of the China-Pakistan bilateral relations and both the sides had jointly funded over 475 research projects covering agriculture, chemical industry and aerospace.
Adressing a gathering held here on Wednesday to celebrate China-Pakistan Space Science & Technology Cooperation, Pang Chunxue said remarkable results had been achieved since the two sides signed an inter-governmental S&T cooperation agreement in 1976.
Besides, scores of other projects were also funded between the two countries in the field of water resource protection, medical and health care, computer science, biotechnology, energy, meteorology, environment, geology, and technology management.
“We are here to hand over Pakistani medicinal plant seeds after a six-month orbit stay in the Space Station of China. The Shenzhou XIV manned spacecraft was launched into space to have a scientific experiment in June 2022 and returned to the ground safely in December 2022. This is the first time Pakistani plants reached space. The experiment will surely be witnssed in the history of China-Pakistan friendship and a landmark of S&T cooperation”, she said.
PAK, China cooperation in Science, Technology
She further said the mutual S&T cooperation had also been included under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which will surely provide strong backing to the high-quality and sustainable development of the CPEC project.
She added that China’s international S&T cooperation was committed to being open, shared, and inclusive. Space exploration was a shared cause of humanity. China insists on conducting cooperation in space exploration based on peaceful usage, equality, mutual benefit and inclusive development.
She also thanked the scientists of both the countries for their joint efforts and praised the officials of the Ministry of S & T, COMSTECH, and Pakistan Science Foundation for their role.
She also recalled that three months ago, in a meeting with Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed that his country will further strenthen synergy between its development strategies and those of Pakistan, and would solidly enhance cooperation in areas such as agriculture, science and technology, and people’s livelihood.
This current is another vivid example of implementing the consensus reached by the leaders of the two sides. Both the sides were committed to building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, she maintained.
She emphasized that China-Pakistan friendship requires to be passed on from generation to generation and “we are pleased to witness that Pakistani youth have interacted with Chinese astronauts by sending letters to them, with a timely response by Chinese astronaut via video, which she beleieved would assist to light up the teenager’s space dreams”.
