Smart photovoltaic greenhouse <a s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is finding growing applications in Arab countries including the UAE, Oman, Egypt, and Qatar, turning solutions originally developed for the region's arid environment into practical tools for agricultural cooperation overseas.
Ningxia’s greenhouse <a s industrial transformation and three decades of deepening Fujian-Ningxia cooperation. Once a recipient of funding, <a s landscaping authority invited the company to test its technology against international teams to grow crops under the city's hot, arid desert conditions.
According to Sun Zhaojun, president of Ningxia Wozhiyuan Technology Co., growing watermelons in Dubai’s intense June heat was considered impossible at the time.
Other international teams also attempted similar trials but failed. After successfully growing watermelons, the company gained acknowledgement from Dubai, which signed a technology transfer agreement with the company the following year. The technology has since spread to more countries, Sun told the Global Times on Sunday.
Nevertheless, for a rural company like Wozhiyuan, earning the trust of overseas clients has not been easy. He recalled one detail: when he was conducting technical tests in Oman, the local partner initially doubted the company’s underground drip irrigation technology. After two years of data-based verification, however, the partner was finally reassured.
Technology exports require time to build trust, but once established, word of mouth can be more effective than any advertisement, Sun said.
Word of mouth led to larger contracts. In 2022, the company’s technology was used to cultivate high-quality turf meeting the standards for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, using precision underground irrigation to reduce water loss and support grass growth. Wozhiyuan secured more than $1.2 billion in orders from Qatar.
“At the time, some even questioned whether we would be able to successfully fulfill the orders,” Sun told the Global Times.
Sun said Chinese companies’ solutions offer not only technological advantages but also competitive cost-effectiveness. Arab customers had also considered Israeli and US firms, but Chinese solutions offered comparable performance at lower investment costs, which became one of the key factors behind their final decision.
Ningxia’s experience in tackling water scarcity has helped address agricultural challenges in arid Arab countries. Its independently developed smart wind-solar hybrid water-saving irrigation technology combines green energy and Internet of Things (IoT) control systems and has been tested and promoted in Oman, Egypt, and the UAE, where its reliability and practicality have gained wide recognition, Sun said.
Today, the company is working with a Saudi partner on a five-year plan to build a 10,000-mu China-Saudi photovoltaic smart agricultural water-saving technology park and a 100-mu smart temperature-controlled, water-saving photovoltaic greenhouse project, while also promoting 70,000 photovoltaic huts for various applications in Saudi Arabia.
Hongsipu, home to Wozhiyuan, was once one of Ningxia’s most economically disadvantaged areas. Three decades ago, Fujian and Ningxia began a cross-regional poverty allenditions, natural environments, and industrial bases
The Fujian-Ningxia partnership initially focused on infrastructure, housing, education, healthcare, employment, and poverty allexia contributing expertise in industry, energy, technology, and ecological restoration
Jiang Shaojing, a professor at the Ningxia Party School, told the Global Times on Sunday that Fujian-Ningxia cooperation has expanded into areas including new quality productive forces, green development, and two-way opening-up. The two regions are leveraging complementary strengths through models such as “Fujian company combines with Ningxia resources,” “Fujian headquarters combines with Ningxia bases,” and “Fujian technology combines with Ningxia application scenarios,” creating an industrial chain spanning coastal R&D, inland commercialization, and nationwide sales.
Thirty years ago, Ningxia relied on support from Fujian. Today, Ningxia companies are turning their own technological expertise and development experience into solutions for overseas markets.
Ningxia companies are exporting technologies including drought-resistant crops and saline-alkali land rehabilitation to Central Asia and Arab countries, while expanding overseas in sectors including green hydrogen, wine, goji berries, and new energy.
Amid uneven global development, climate change, and the green transition, many countries face challenges in industrial development, improving livelihoods, and managing reexample of poverty reduction efforts
In addition, several projects with a clear focus on international cooperation have emerged from the Fujian-Ningxia cooperation, which means that the outcomes of the partnership are moving beyond an “internal cycle” of east-west cooperation in China toward “opening-up and cooperation with Arab countries,” Jiang said.
