China and Pakistan strengthened technology collaboration and moved towards the formation of a high-tech alliance with the launch of the China-Pakistan Science and Technology Cooperation Center in Beijing.
The two allies have realized the growing need to expand cooperation in new technology areas and its economic benefits besides the defense and strategic alliance.
The Chinese Zhongguancun Belt and Road Industrial Promotion Association (ZBRA) and Pakistan’s Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) jointly launched the new center in Beijing to boost bilateral cooperation on science and technology (S&T). The cooperation between ZBRA and STZA began in February 2022 with the signing of a Letter of Intent on S&T cooperation.
Zhang Xiaodong, President of ZBRA, said that the tech center will act as a platform to “mobilize all parties in China and Pakistan, especially high-tech enterprises and institutions to develop and gather resources for science and technology cooperation”. China is the second-largest investor in R&D behind the United States and is spending about US$440 billion on research and development.
ZBRA is an independent organization providing an international cooperation platform for the integration of sci-tech enterprises into the Belt and Road development program. Headquartered in Beijing, ZBRA has its liaison offices in North Africa, ASEAN countries, and North America. Its members include technology enterprises, scientific research institutions, universities, and organizations based within and outside China.
The S&T center will serve as a “liaison office for Chinese enterprises”, said Hamza Saeed Orakzai, the Director of Strategic Planning and Regulatory Affairs at STZA which supports the development of the tech ecosystem and knowledge economy in Pakistan. Orakzai added that apart from boosting S&T innovations, people-to-people, and student-to-student cooperation networks, the center will be designed to build a business-to-business platform for the transfer of technology and boosting cross-border investments.
More than 3000 Chinese technology companies virtually attended the inauguration ceremony held at the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing. Moin-ul-Haque, the Ambassador of Pakistan to China, said that the technology sector has emerged as a “cornerstone of China-Pakistan cooperation” during the recent visit of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to Beijing following the establishment of the S&T Joint Working Group and the Information Technology Joint Working Group, under the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). A delegation of Chinese S&T enterprises is expected to visit Pakistan next year to explore business opportunities.
China-Pakistan Science and Technology Cooperation Center will:
- Focus on cooperation in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Cloud Computing, Robotics, Fintech, Biotechnology, and Blockchain.
- Serve as a platform for Chinese technology companies to conduct and relocate their business in Pakistan’s special technology zones.
- Foster a cooperation base for developing production capacity.
