Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday announced that the first batch of 300 Pakistani agriculture graduates had completed their hands-on training in China’s Shaanxi province as part of a joint agriculture training initiative.

Last July, it was announced that 1,000 students would travel to China for modern agricultural vocational training at the government’s expense. The first batch of students was sent to China at the beginning of the academic year 2024-25, while the next batch would be sent to Chinese agricultural universities after learning Chinese in Pakistan.

In a post on X, the PM said it was “very heartening” to hear that the 300 students completed their training “in important areas of water saving irrigation, seed production, animal husbandry, agriculture production and prevention of post-harvest losses”.

“My special thanks to the Chinese leadership, [the] Shaanxi Government and the two universities,” PM Shehbaz said, referring to North West Agriculture and Forestry University and Yangling Vocational and Technical College.

“Appreciation for [the] Ministry of National Food Security, HEC (Higher Education Commission) and Pak Embassy Beijing for their hard work in ensuring the success of this initiative,” he wrote.

The Chinese Embassy also published a post on X congratulating the graduates on completing their training.

“May these talented youths play an important role in promoting Pakistan’s agricultural modernisation and [Pakistani and Chinese] agricultural cooperation!” the embassy wrote.

Earlier this year, PM Shehbaz reiterated the government’s determination to transform the country’s agriculture sector on modern lines, emphasising that the sustainable development of this key sector of the economy is inevitable.

In the Pakistan Economic Survey released in June, the overall agriculture sector, which accounts for nearly 24 per cent of GDP, posted modest growth of 0.6pc in fiscal year 2024-25, falling well short of the 2pc target and significantly below the announced growth of 6.4pc.

Major crops such as wheat, cotton, and maize contracted by 13.5pc, a sharper decline than an estimated 4.5pc.