China will formulate plans for cooperation with Central Asian countries in reducing poverty through science and technology, President Xi Jinping said on Friday.

President Xi made the remarks in his keynote address at the China-Central Asia Summit in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

To boost China's cooperation with Central Asian countries and their own development, China will provide a total of 26 billion yuan (around $3.7 billion) in financing support and grant assistance to Central Asian countries, Xi said.

He also said China will set up more Luban workshops – Chinese vocational workshop programs training talents overseas – in Central Asian countries and encourage Chinese-funded businesses in Central Asia to create more local jobs.

Technology-led agricultural cooperation

Agriculture is a major area of cooperation between China and Central Asian countries as it plays a crucial role in regional development. 

Kazakhstan is a major global food exporter, and agricultural technology is vital to improve the quality and yield of agricultural production in the country.

Located in Kazakhstan's Almaty region, the China-Kazakhstan Modern Agriculture Innovation Park, a 200-hectare agriculture park, was established in 2015 by China's Yangling Agricultural High-Tech Industrial Demonstration Zone and Kazakhstan International Integration Foundation.

Experts from both sides have planted various crops, including wheat, corn, soybeans and vegetables in the park, and promoted technologies such as greenhouses and water-saving irrigation there.

Cui Weijun, head of the Chinese side of the park, told Xinhua that a special type of wheat developed by Chinese experts has maintained steady yields for years, with its production over 80 percent higher than the local wheat.

"China's wheat breeding technology and vegetable cultivation management have been widely recognized by Kazakh experts," said Cui.

China and Kazakhstan signed a joint statement on May 17 during Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's state visit to China, in which the two sides agreed to deepen agricultural cooperation in an all-round way.

Specific measures included setting up a sub-committee for agricultural cooperation under the China-Kazakhstan Cooperation Committee, strengthening collaboration on food security, promoting agricultural investment and trade, and improving sci-tech and industrial exchanges in water-saving irrigation, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, and agricultural machinery, and comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land.

Deepening cooperation on cotton 

Uzbekistan has a long history of growing cotton, and cotton cultivation and related industries are the main source of income for half of Uzbekistan's population.

In August 2019, a research team from Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography under the Chinese Academy of Sciences came to the country and found that in spite of sound soil conditions and irrigation water quality, the cotton yield in a pilot site in Qashqadaryo Region was not high – an average of about 3 tonnes per hectare – due to the traditional flood irrigation method.

After a three-month survey, the team decided to promote the efficient cultivation technique, namely film-mulched drip irrigation, in this area.

"In April 2021, we completed cotton seeding and film laying work on 115 mu (about 7.7 hectares) of land, and then started cotton drip irrigation and fertilization. At the same time, we provided technical training on drip irrigation system to local personnel," said Liu Tie, a researcher at the institute.

The yield measurement results in October 2021 showed that by adopting advanced drip irrigation, the average yield of cotton was about 6 tonnes per hectare, which increased by 140 percent in the same region compared with the traditional irrigation method, while saving water by more than 50 percent.

Abdullah Begmatov, a local cotton farmer, told Xinhua that the Chinese cotton cultivation method also showed advantages in easy operation and cost control, which reduces the total cost by 40 to 50 percent compared with the traditional method.

To speed up the adoption of the technology, Uzbekistan has set up a committee and a joint laboratory, and accelerated the construction of cotton seed production workshops as well as other cooperation projects, according to Liu.

Sharing agricultural technology

In September 2021, the construction of a Chinese-Uzbek modern agricultural science and technology demonstration park was started, covering an area of over 233 hectares.

"China's advanced agricultural technologies and high-quality crop varieties have been introduced into the park. Trial plantation of oil sunflower, soybean and corn has been completed, and more varieties will be grown here in the future," Chen Bing, vice general manager of the company, told Xinhua, adding that the technologies have won recognition from the Uzbek government and experts.

In Tajikistan, a textile industrial park jointly built by China's Zhongtai Group and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps with support from the Tajik government, is situated in the country's Dangara Basin. The advanced digital intelligent agricultural machines and textile equipment in the park have facilitated the country's yarn production, helping the products gain a foothold in the global high-end market.

While carrying out agricultural cooperation with Central Asian countries, China has also shared agricultural technology and knowledge to these countries, by means of on-site teaching, remote guidance and training.