Technology and Science22 July, 20262 min read
Pakistan’s Bilal Bin Saqib Seeks Deeper AI Partnership With China at WAIC in Shanghai
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Bilal Bin Saqib seeks deeper AI partnership with China at WAIC 2026 Pakistan aims practical AI applications, including autonomous farming and weather forecasting
Pakistan seeks AI use
At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Bilal Bin Saqib, Pakistan's Minister of State and Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), said, "China plays a highly practical role," pointing to affordable computing infrastructure, deployment expertise and cooperation in sectors such as agriculture. Saqib argued that for Pakistan the question is not access to advanced AI models but how to use technology to strengthen digital infrastructure and address practical challenges from agricultural productivity to climate resilience.
The Global Times said China and Pakistan have begun exploring AI applications including smart agriculture and healthcare and discussed establishing a joint AI laboratory to improve agricultural productivity, supply chains and food security, according to Radio Pakistan. Saqib said Pakistan's AI ambitions begin with computing power, describing domestic computing infrastructure as a foundation under the six pillars of Pakistan's National AI Policy and adding, "Without localized computing and the power to sustain it, our broader sectoral ambitions remain purely theoretical."
Smart farming and MAZU
The Global Times linked AI infrastructure to agriculture, saying agriculture contributes around one-fifth of Pakistan's GDP and that recurring floods, prolonged droughts, water shortages and rising temperatures threaten production. It said China has been experimenting with AI applications in agriculture, including computer vision systems to identify crop diseases and pest infestations, AI-enabled drones for targeted spraying, and intelligent irrigation systems combining weather forecasts, soil moisture and crop data.
Wang Yaojun, associate professor at the College of Information and Electrical Engineering, China Agricultural University, told the Global Times that autonomous agricultural machinery is also being introduced in some regions to support planting and harvesting. At WAIC, the paper highlighted MAZU, named after the Chinese maritime goddess and described as incorporating an AI model to forecast typhoons and extreme weathers, and quoted Saqib saying, "It's absolutely great," while referring to China's offer to share it with the Global South.
Gulf security and AI chips
الحرة reported that Iranian strikes targeting data centers in Gulf states highlighted vulnerabilities in U.S. efforts to bolster investments by American AI companies in the region and attract Gulf states away from Chinese offers.
The article said that in March, drones launched by Iran damaged two data centers owned by Amazon Web Services in the United Arab Emirates and disrupted another center in Bahrain, causing a temporary outage in some banking and other cloud services in the region.
It also described how the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that American technology companies and facilities owned by or used by the United States in the Gulf had become legitimate military targets, and cited a U.S. State Department initiative aimed at cementing the United States' standing as the UAE's preferred partner in AI.
Mike Sexton, the chief AI policy adviser at the U.S. think tank Third Way, said the global demand for data centers needed to run AI applications is rising sharply, giving Gulf states a clear incentive to engage in the sector, adding, "we are getting these benefits from the United States".