Two new international bio-breeding laboratories were officially inaugurated in Aksu, Xinjiang, on June 16, marking a major advancement in agricultural science and technology cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). These labs are designed to boost cross-border scientific collaboration and drive innovation in crop breeding along the Silk Road.
Their launch coincided with a cotton-themed academic forum held in southern Xinjiang, which gathered over 280 participants, including researchers, scholars, business leaders, and industry experts from BRI partner countries. The forum focused on recent breakthroughs in cotton bio-breeding and the modernization of the seed industry, aiming to enhance international cooperation and promote industrial transformation.
One of the labs is a joint international research platform housed at Xinjiang Agricultural University. It partners with six universities—including Russia’s State Agrarian University and Pakistan’s University of Agriculture Faisalabad—as well as two Chinese seed companies. The lab spans disciplines like crop science, grassland science, and plant protection, operating on a model that blends Chinese technological expertise with foreign resources, facilitating cross-border innovation and germplasm sharing.
The second lab is a collaboration between Xinjiang Agricultural University and a top-tier seed enterprise. It emphasizes the integration of academic research with commercial application. Equipped with advanced resources like a supercomputing center and a crop genetic improvement facility, this lab aims to become a regional leader in bio-breeding innovation for arid areas in Northwest China and a catalyst for high-quality agricultural growth under the BRI framework.
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