China’s most prestigious fisheries research academy has signed a deal with central Asian states to promote the sector in the region.
A letter of intent for a Fisheries Research Science and Technology Multilateral Agreement was signed at a recent summit of fisheries officials from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, hosted by the China Academy of Fishery Sciences at its base in northern China.
Speaking at the summit, the academy’s director, Cui Li Feng, suggested the agreement could include advice on aquaculture in “high saline soils.” Uzbekistan suffers from soil contamination of large swathes of land due to Soviet era irrigation programs for mass cotton cultivation.
The most populous nation and largest economy in the region, Uzbekistan appears to be enjoying a period of economic and political liberalization following the death of its former leader, Islam Karimov.
China has made economic integration with central Asia a key plank of its “One Belt, One Road” blueprint for increasing national trade.
