Growing China-Pakistan Collaboration in Science and Technology

[Riaz Haq]

With 6,000 Pakistanis working on their PhDs in China, the two countries are enjoying rapid growth in scientific and technological collaboration, according to Journal Nature. Pakistan's scientific output is now growing at the fastest rate in the world. With nearly 3,000 papers jointly authored and published by Chinese and Pakistani researcher, China has now emerged as Pakistan's top partner in scientific collaborations, surpassing Saudi Arabia (about 1,500 papers) and the United States (about 1,200 papers) in 2018, according to an analysis of co-authored papers from Elsevier’s Scopus database. China is co-sponsoring a range of research centers in Pakistan that are studying topics from rice agriculture to artificial intelligence and railway engineering.

Pakistan-China ties are rapidly growing well beyond the economy and the military with tens of thousands of Chinese and Pakistani citizens regularly traveling between the two countries. More Pakistanis than ever are learning the Chinese language.  China with its world class educational institutions is emerging as one of the top destinations for Pakistanis studying abroad. Currently, 6,156 Pakistani students are studying in Ph.D., 3,600 in Masters, 11,100 in Bachelors and 3,000 in Short Term Exchange Programs across China. Pakistan ranks third in the number of international students currently studying in China with 28,023 Pakistani students, according to a statement issued by China’s Ministry of Education. It is becoming a truly multi-dimensional relationship which will help Pakistan rise with China on the world stage.

Pakistan's  Co-authored Research Papers. Source: Nature

Typical of the new Sinophile generation of Pakistani scientists is Dr. Iqbal Choudhary, director of the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences at the University of Karachi. Choudhary’s center is one of the oldest — it celebrated its 50th birthday just a few years ago — and largest institutes in Asia dedicated to the chemistry and biology of natural products.

China's Top Collaborators in Science and Technology Research. Sourc...

Among the Belt Road Initiative member nations, Pakistan has emerged as the second strongest Chinese partner for science and technology collaboration in terms of Probabilistic Affinity Index (PAI), according to the Journal Nature. So far, China Academy of Sciences (CAS) has invested more than 1.8 billion yuan (almost US$268 million) in science and technology projects as part of the BRI.

CAS is supporting the Digital Belt and Road (Digital BRI), a platform for participating countries to share the data obtained as part of their collaborative projects with each other and with China. These data include satellite images as well as quantitative data on natural hazards, water resources and cultural heritage sites.

As part of Digital BRI/CPEC, an 820-kilometer long China-Pakistan fiber optic cable has already been laid between the city of Rawalpindi, Pakistan in the south and the Khunjerab Pass, China in the north  and operational since July, 2018.

By 2020, the 6,299 kilometers of underwater cables will extend to Djibouti from Gwadar and form the Digital Silk Route between Asia and Africa. At the same time, a space-based Silk Road will provide satellite navigation support to all BRI countries. The first Beidou base station of the Space Silk Road is already operational in Pakistan since 2017.  BeiDou is making rapid progress with 30 BRI countries already linked up.

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[Riaz Haq]

Mario Nawfal

@MarioNawfal
🚨🇵🇰 PAKISTAN JUST LAUNCHED ITS FIRST-EVER EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE

Pakistan just entered a new space era with the successful launch of PRSC HS-1, its first hyperspectral Earth observation satellite.

The satellite lifted off from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on a Kinetica-1 rocket.

PRSC HS-1 can analyse Earth’s surface in hundreds of spectral bands, tracking crops, water, minerals, pollution, and more with scientific precision.

This marks a major leap for SUPARCO and Pakistan’s growing space program.

Think of it as Earth’s MRI scanner, and Pakistan now has the tech.

Source:
@OSPSF

https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/1980046305335390214

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AI Overview

A hyperspectral satellite is an Earth observation satellite that uses advanced imaging technology to capture hundreds of narrow, contiguous spectral bands of light, creating a detailed "spectral fingerprint" for every point on the ground. This allows it to analyze the physical and chemical composition of materials and detect subtle differences invisible to the naked eye or traditional cameras. Applications include agriculture, environmental monitoring, geology, and disaster management.
How it works
Hundreds of bands: Unlike RGB cameras that see red, green, and blue, or even multispectral sensors that use up to 36 broad bands, a hyperspectral sensor captures data across hundreds of very narrow bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Spectral fingerprint: By stacking these hundreds of narrow images, the satellite creates a 3D "spectral cube" for each pixel, where the third dimension is the spectral information. This provides a unique spectral signature for every material, from types of plants to minerals to water.
Detailed analysis: This high spectral resolution allows for the identification and analysis of specific materials based on their unique light-reflecting properties. For example, a hyperspectral satellite can distinguish between different tree species or detect the early signs of drought stress in a crop.
Key applications
Agriculture: Monitoring crop health, assessing soil conditions, and detecting drought stress or disease before they are visible.
Geology: Mapping mineral deposits, providing precise geochemical data, and reducing exploration costs.
Environmental monitoring: Tracking water quality, detecting pollutants, and monitoring changes in land use.
Disaster management: Assessing damage from natural disasters and monitoring geohazard risks.
Other areas: Forestry, climate change research, defense, and security.