Sindh and Hubei seek deeper ties in tech, agriculture and trade

Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah met Hubei governor Li Dianxun and provincial Communist Party secretary Guan Xiaotao in Wuhan on Wednesday, as the two sides sought broader provincial-level collaboration in agriculture, information technology, education and vocational training, according to a statement from the chief minister's office.

The talks, held during an official visit by a Sindh delegation, focused on translating Pakistan-China relations into development projects, trade and people-to-people exchanges. Governor Li was reported as saying that Hubei's industrial base, manufacturing capacity and research institutions offered scope for joint ventures, and that the province was keen to expand cooperation in modern agriculture, digital industries and vocational training under the next phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Shah was reported as welcoming Hubei enterprises to take part in that phase, with a focus on green growth, agricultural modernisation and skills development.

Agriculture was a central theme. Shah thanked China for training 1,000 Pakistani agricultural graduates, many of whom studied at Huazhong Agricultural University, and welcomed existing work on horticultural crop research and a joint laboratory for smart and digital agriculture. He sought Hubei's expertise in hybrid rice, high-yield seed development and farm mechanisation, and called for advanced cold-chain logistics to reduce post-harvest losses for Sindh's fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy and fisheries. He also proposed linking Wuhan-based technology incubators and investors with Sindh startups, and invited Chinese firms to invest in pilot projects in port logistics, industrial automation and urban traffic management in Karachi.

In education, Shah addressed university leaders, faculty and students at Central China Normal University, where he proposed partnerships in teacher training, educational technology, student exchanges, Mandarin language instruction and collaborative research. He set out a four-point framework covering teacher training with Sindh's education department and provincial universities, academic mobility through scholarships and faculty exchanges, Mandarin teacher training across Sindh's schools and universities, and joint research on climate change, water management, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, smart cities and the comparative history of the Indus and Yangtze civilisations. The university's leadership was reported as welcoming the proposals and expressing interest in expanding institutional exchanges and student mobility.

The visit comes ahead of the 75th anniversary of Pakistan-China diplomatic relations, which the chief minister said were formally established on 21 May 1951. Both sides expressed confidence that closer engagement between Sindh and Hubei would strengthen the Pakistan-China All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership. Shah was accompanied by senior minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, planning and development minister Jam Khan Shoro, special assistant Syed Qasim Naveed, PSCM Agha Wasif, planning and development chairman Najam Shah, investment secretary Raja Khurram Shahzad and transport secretary Asad Zaman.