On the afternoon of November 19, the China Association for Science and Technology’s "Belt and Road" Cooperation Platform Construction Project for International Science and Technology Organizations held its awarding ceremony at the East Lake International Conference Center in Wuhan. During this event, the "Wuhan University (China) – Punjab University (Pakistan) Honglian Hybrid Rice Joint Research Center" received an award, which was accepted on behalf of the school by Li Xiaoshu, the Director of the Office of International Affairs at Wuhan University.
Wang Qinglin (third from the left), Vice Minister of the International Liaison Department of the China Association for Science and Technology, and Ye Xianlin (second from the right), Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Chairman of Hubei Association for Science and Technology, jointly presented the plaque to Li Xiaoshu (third from the right), Director, Office of International Affairs, WHU.
In August 2020, the "Wuhan University (China) – Punjab University (Pakistan) Honglian Hybrid Rice Joint Research Center" project was included in the China Association for Science and Technology "Belt and Road" cooperation platform for international science and technology organization as a key support project. It became the first project of its kind undertaken by Wuhan University, receiving funding of 900,000 RMB.
Wuhan University and Punjab University began their cooperation in the field of Honglian hybrid rice in 2018. Prof. Zhu Renshan’s team from the School of Life Sciences of Wuhan University and the equivalent team from the School of Agricultural Sciences of Punjab University have conducted many reciprocal visits and field trips. In October 2019, Prof. Li Fei, the vice president of Wuhan University, led a delegation to visit Punjab University, and reached an agreement with the president of Punjab University to jointly establish the "Wuhan University (China)-Punjab University(Pakistan) Honglian Hybrid Rice Research Center". On September 2, 2020, the construction of the joint research center was officially launched. Established in Pakistan, the center has worked closely with the domestic Honglian hybrid rice research and breeding bases to vigorously promote the popularization of Honglian hybrid rice in Pakistan through experiments and demonstrations, so as to realize the business model of “seed going out and rice coming in”, which is conducive to deepening China’s agricultural cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road route represented by Pakistan, and forming a food security community. This will not only ensure local food security, increase exports and foreign exchange for the local countries, but also ease China's current tight food balance and put the rice bowls of developing countries firmly in the hands of the people themselves.
The Honglian hybrid rice is an original achievement of Wuhan University, a renowned hybrid rice type developed by the late Professor Zhu Yingguo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and an expert in plant genetic breeding, and his team over a period of more than 40 years. By 2020, the global acreage of Honglian hybrid rice has exceeded 26.67 million hectares.
Rewritten by Lin Wanping
Edited by Wu Buer, Sylvia and Hu Sijia
