Online Reporter
Kuda Bwititi
Zimpapers Politics Hub
THE new China-Zimbabwe Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Agriculture Ecology and Cash Crops should go beyond research and help turn agricultural science into commercial opportunities for Zimbabwean farmers, Ambassador Zhou Ding has said.
Speaking at the commissioning of the laboratory at the University of Zimbabwe yesterday, Ambassador Zhou said the new facility should help bridge the gap between scientific research and value addition.
He said Zimbabwe could use the partnership to tap into China’s huge market and industrial capacity while improving the productivity and competitiveness of its agricultural sector.
“By capitalising on China’s comprehensive industrial chains and vast market potential, both sides will accelerate the commercial and industrial application of research outputs,” Ambassador Zhou said.
“The joint laboratory will support Zimbabwe in optimising its agro-ecological systems, upgrading farming techniques, and strengthening the linkage between sci-tech innovation and value-added processing.”
The remarks point to a shift from conventional academic cooperation towards research that produces commercial solutions and directly benefits farmers and the wider economy.
Ambassador Zhou said the laboratory was strategically positioned to help Zimbabwe exploit the opportunities created by China’s zero-tariff policy for African exports.
China recently expanded preferential market access for African countries, creating opportunities for Zimbabwe to increase exports of agricultural and other products into the Chinese market.
Ambassador Zhou said the new laboratory would therefore be expected to contribute to the development of competitive cash crops while supporting food security and rural development.
He said the initiative was aligned with Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy 2 and Vision 2030, which place emphasis on ecological restoration, food security, agricultural modernisation and rural revitalisation.
“It establishes a high-level, specialised platform for collaborative research between our two countries, facilitating the translation of cutting-edge technologies into tangible, practical solutions for Zimbabwe’s agricultural modernisation.”
Cooperation with Zimbabwe had already produced practical results in agriculture and rural development, the Ambassador said.
He cited poverty reduction demonstration villages, Juncao technology, climate-resilient crop varieties, sustainable soil management, water resources planning, borehole drilling and irrigation upgrading.
“These efforts, paired with targeted food security assistance, have steadily bolstered national food security,” he said.
The partnership is also expected to make greater use of technology and data.
Noting that the Zimbabwe Centre for High Performance Computing was constructed with grant funding from the Chinese Government, Ambassador Zhou said the facility had strengthened the country’s capacity to undertake sophisticated agricultural research.
The facility, he said, was providing technical support for agro-ecological data analysis, smart agriculture research and modern farming.
The new laboratory is part of the wider Belt and Road Science, Technology and Innovation Action Plan proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“By the end of 2025, China had partnered with 50 countries to establish 70 joint laboratories, fostering an open, inclusive, and dynamic global network for sci-tech innovation cooperation,” Ambassador Zhou said.
He said the Zimbabwe laboratory would become an important component of that global research network.
The facility will bring together Zimbabwean and Chinese researchers, with experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering contributing specialised knowledge.
Senior Government officials and professors from Zimbabwe and China attended the event.
