Recently, the 2022 Sino-Pakistan International Workshop on Nutrition and Health originated from Food and Medicinal Resources with the Annual Seminar of China-Pakistan Joint Research Center for Nutrition and Health was held successfully online, jointly hosted by Institute of Food Science and Technology of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IFST-CAAS), National Alliance of Science and Technology Innovation for Food Derived from Natural Medicinal Resources, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi, Pakistan, Food and Nutrition Committee of China Association of Agricultural Science Societies. More than 60 experts from member units of China-Pakistan Joint Research Center for Nutrition and Health attended the meeting including Wang Fengzhong (Director General of IFST-CAAS), Atta Ur Rahman (Academician of Pakistan Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Sciences), Zhao Yufen (Academician, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of Institute of Drug Discovery Technology, Ningbo University), Yang Yuexin (President of Chinese Nutrition Society), He Qinghu (President of Hunan University of Medicine), Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary (Dean of International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi of Pakistan) and Liu Xinmin (Member of Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional Medicine, World Health Organization).

Fan Bei, the assistant Director General of IFST-CAAS delivered a welcome speech, expressed appreciation to the experts for attending the meeting from both sides. She said that through several years of cooperation, the two sides have established long-term friendly cooperative relations in personnel training, scientific and technological support, academic exchanges, research and development of healthy food, which has strongly promoted the scientific and technological interactions on food and medicinal resources in the field of traditional medicine between China and Pakistan, and deepened friendly mutual trust and solidary cooperation.

Academician Atta Ur Rahman and Director Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary remarked that food and medicinal resources have great potential and broad prospects in promoting human health. ICCBS has screened hundreds of plants to explore their anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and neuroregulatory activities, and found a variety of active compounds that are beneficial to human body and have applied for international patents. They suggested that China and Pakistan should further deepen practical cooperation, especially on food and medicinal resources are in the fields of industries and commercial, so as to jointly promote the vigorous development of the nutrition and health industries of food and medicinal resources.

During the conference, researchers from both sides made academic reports on the research and application of food and medicinal resources, respectively. The participating experts heatedly discussed on the legal status, application status and industrial prospects cooperation of food derived from natural medicinal resources, and the annual work plan of China-Pakistan Joint Research Center for Nutrition and Health next year. This meeting is of great significance to deepen the cooperation between China and Pakistan in science and technology, talents, academic and industrial fields in the nutrition and health of food and medicinal resources.