(Yangling)

President Mr. Wu Pute,

Deputy Director General Mr. Gao Jinxiao,

Distinguished Faculty of NWAFU, Dear Graduates,

Good Afternoon and Da Jia Hao,

Today, as green fields sway beyond these walls, we gather not just to celebrate a graduation, but to witness the blossoming of a promise made right here in Yangling just over a year ago.

 It was June 2024 when our Prime Minister stood amidst China’s agricultural marvels, and declared with unwavering resolve that Pakistan would send 1,000 sons and daughters of its soil to China to master the arts of modern agriculture.

 Today, that vision takes flight as the first cohort of our agricultural pioneers stands before us, forged by the wisdom of Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University. 

NWAFU has become a temple of transformation. You opened your laboratories, your experimental fields, and the very soul of your institution to our professionals. You equipped them not with textbooks, but with torches to illuminate Pakistan’s agrarian future. For this profound generosity, Pakistan bows in gratitude.  A word of appreciation or due for President Wu and his stewardship of this program.

Deputy Director General Gao Jinxiao, and the Foreign Affairs Office of Shaanxi, your cooperation turned a pledge into reality.

 In the shadow of ancient terracotta warriors, Shaanxi nurtured modern-day pioneers. You offered more than visas and lodgings, you offered kinship. You ensured that the rivers of Shaanxi’s wisdom flowed freely into the hearts of our professionals. This is the essence of our iron-clad friendship: not steel and concrete alone, but seeds sown in shared soil. 

And now, to our graduates.

You are now equipped to be our nation’s Seeds of Change. You arrived from the cotton fields, the orchards and the wheat belts of Pakistan. For months, you learned here beside NWAFU’s mentors in fields where innovation ripens. Today, you return not just with certificates, but with covenants，to awaken the potential of Pakistan’s earth. 

Remember Yangling’s lessons and the joint Pakistan-China conviction when you counsel policymakers back home. You carry two legacies now: the resilience of Pakistan and the ingenuity of NWAFU. Merge them. Build model farms that become academies. Draft policies that turn vulnerability into vitality. Be ambassadors of this truth: that Pakistan and China have always strived for Pakistan-China Community with a Shared Future.

This initiative transcends agriculture: it is the greening of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Where highways and ports laid the bones, you now weave the sinews of food security. As climate change stalks our rivers and heatwaves scorch our plains, your knowledge is our shield. Return home and plant these seeds of progress. Let your work in Faisalabad’s fields, in Khyber’s terraces, be your tribute to Yangling. Make your sweat the water that nourishes a new harvest of hope. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Agriculture remains the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, sustaining food security for 240 million people.

 In this context, our bilateral cooperation with China, anchored in initiatives like this training program, is not symbolic but strategic. These 1,000 professionals will return to directly address Pakistan’s critical challenges: water scarcity, low crop yields, post-harvest losses, and climate vulnerability.

Equipped with NWAFU’s advanced techniques in precision agriculture, soil management, and agri-tech, they will implement scalable solutions across Pakistan’s farms, driving productivity, enhancing export competitiveness, and strengthening rural livelihoods.

As the Chinese proverb says:

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.

This is that one single step.

Thank you. Xie xie