In a historic event marking the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (LCCI) 100th anniversary and 14th Outstanding Contribution Award celebration, Pakistani President Dr. Arif Alvi presented the award to the first-ever Chinese recipient, Yang Yuanzhu. Yang Yuanzhu, the head researcher for hybrid rice varieties and vice president of Yuan Longping Hitech, a renowned Chinese Agriculture company, received the accolade in recognition of exceptional contributions to economic development and bilateral trade between Pakistan and China.
The ceremony, held at the President House in Islamabad on November 8, honored a total of 13 individuals, with Yang Yuanzhu standing out as the first non-Pakistani recipient since the award’s inception. President Alvi commended the significant impact of Chinese hybrid rice on Pakistan’s food production and foreign exchange earnings from rice exports in his address.
Under the leadership of Yang Yuanzhu, the Yuan Longping High-Tech R&D team spent a decade developing high-quality hybrid rice varieties tailored for the Pakistani market. Over the last three years, the team achieved an average annual sales of around 5 million kg of hybrid rice seeds, capturing approximately 40 percent of the market share and ranking first among all seed companies in Pakistan.
The team’s efforts resulted in an annual uplift of over 800,000 acres of mixed rice, an annual increase of over 1.5 million tons of rice, and an annual boost of over $300 million in foreign exchange—a remarkable contribution to Pakistan’s grain output and economic development.
The collaboration between Yuan Longping High-Tech and Pakistan Guard Agricultural Services dates back to 1999 when they signed a cooperation agreement to jointly develop hybrid rice in Pakistan. Over the past two decades, the partnership has played a pivotal role in promoting hybrid rice in Pakistan, culminating in the establishment of Yuan Longping South Asia Seed Research and Development Company in the country in 2013 to harness high-quality rice germplasm resources.
