---To implement the spirit of the speech delivered by President Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the First Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MoST) have accredited the first fourteen "Belt and Road" Joint Laboratories with the expert group's appraisal under the principle of "Joint Establishing and Sharing, Demand Oriented, Capacity Building, and Demonstration and Guidance". The China-Pakistan Joint Research Center for Small Hydropower, jointly built by NHRI Rural Electrification Department (Hangzhou Regional Center (Asia-Pacific) for Small Hydropower, HRC) and Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET), is one of the fourteen.
PCRET, under the Ministry of Science and Technology of Pakistan, is a governmental research institute specialized in research, development, demonstration and application of renewable energy technologies in Pakistan. As early as in 2012, HRC established a bilateral cooperative relationship with PCRET and successfully applied for a China foreign-aid project for developing countries, called "China-Pakistan Joint Research Center for Small Hydropower" in 2013. Set up in August 2015, the Joint Research Center is now accredited as one of the first fourteen "Belt and Road" Joint Laboratories, strongly supported and fully affirmed by the governments of China and Pakistan.
From June 15 to 19, 2019, Dr. Raza Baqer, Director General of PCRET, visited HRC's Technical Innovation and Equipment Development and Experimental Base of Renewable Energies, for jointly promoting the technological exchanges and cooperation on small hydropower between HRC and PCRET. Both parties had an in-depth discussion about the on-going key project of international scientific and technical innovation and cooperation, called "China-Pakistan Joint Research and Development Center for Key Technologies of Small Hydropower and Rural Electrification", which included a review on the past achievements and determined the follow-up work. And unanimous agreement was reached in regard of the joint laboratory construction. The two parties expressed great satisfaction with the long-standing friendly cooperation, and signed an agreement to extend the Memorandum of Understanding signed on December 11, 2013.(2019-06-21)
Cooperation under "the Belt and Road" Joint Laboratory
Renewing the MOU
