Across the vast landscape of northern Kazakhstan, rows of rapeseed plants thrive. The seeds of the plants traveled more than 3,000 kilometers from Yangling in Shaanxi province to reach these fields.

The crop was grown from seeds supplied by an agricultural company based at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Demonstration Base for Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training, an agricultural high-tech hub in Yangling.

The company has been working to grow high-quality crop varieties and test their adaptability in different environments, with the aim of bringing Chinese agricultural technologies and varieties to overseas markets.

Last year, trials of the rapeseed variety started in Kazakhstan. The results showed that its yield was 32 percent to 51 percent higher than that of traditional local varieties, according to the company.

The variety also performed well in terms of key quality indicators, including thousand-kernel weight and protein content, and showed strong adaptability to Kazakhstan's high-latitude and drought-prone conditions, as well as its large temperature swings.

Li Yiya, the company's general manager, said the successful introduction of the variety marked the first commercial-scale introduction of rapeseed from Shaanxi province into Kazakhstan and diversified the local supply of high-quality seed varieties.

With the production license for import and export of its crop seeds approved, the company has established an integrated operation spanning variety selection, overseas trials, seed production under standardized practices and large-scale exports.

The company plans to expand its presence in major markets across Russia and Central Asia, aiming to secure a 10 percent share of the regional commercial rapeseed market within the next three to five years, Li said.

Rapeseed is not the only crop being used to test how agricultural expertise developed in the demonstration base can adapt to conditions in SCO countries.

In Kyrgyzstan's Chui region, where high elevation, drought and relatively poor soil conditions have long hampered apple production, Yangling Modern Agriculture International Cooperation Co and Baoji Haisheng Modern Agriculture Co jointly established a 3.3-hectare apple demonstration orchard using standardized cultivation practices in May 2025. After more than a year of intensive management, the trees are growing well and have started to produce young fruit.

"We hope to introduce high-quality new domestic apple varieties to Kyrgyzstan so that the local people can enjoy apples that are crisp and sweet," said Wang Xiaoqing, assistant general manager of Baoji Haisheng.

The company has introduced cold-resistant, drought-tolerant and poor-soil-tolerant rootstocks developed by a team at China Agricultural University, and paired these with high-quality cultivars in order to develop a diverse planting system suited to local conditions.

Wang Zhigao, director of the Park Services Center of Yangling Modern Agriculture International Cooperation Co, said that future projects include exporting advanced planting equipment. Large-scale growers from Kyrgyzstan will also be regularly invited to China to study agricultural techniques.

These projects are part of Yangling's broader effort to promote agricultural exchanges and cooperation among SCO countries.

Since the agricultural demonstration base was launched in October 2020, it has established 11 agricultural science and technology parks in countries including Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, with more than 110 technology demonstration projects conducted jointly, local authorities said.

They added that the achievements included high-quality wheat varieties that have increased yields by as much as 60 percent, and integrated water and fertilizer irrigation systems that have cut water use by 50 percent.

Meanwhile, more than 100 training sessions have been held in Yangling, providing agricultural expertise to more than 3,000 officials and professionals from SCO countries and those participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. In addition, 60 online lectures have also been organized, attracting over 60,000 participants, according to local authorities.

In June 2024, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Yangling and announced plans to send 1,000 students to the agricultural demonstration base for training.

Hafiz Muhammad Bilal Ather, previously a scientific officer with Pakistan's federal government, was among those students. He was enrolled as a doctoral student in the animal genetics, breeding and reproduction program at Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in 2025.

"Modern breeding and genomic tools can help us develop animals that are more resistant to disease and heat, and produce more milk and meat," he said, adding that his studies had given him new knowledge, skills and ideas.

"After my doctoral program, I aim to go back to Pakistan as a scientist and researcher and bring Chinese knowledge and research experience back to my country to help improve Pakistan's agricultural research system," he said.

Agricultural trade has grown alongside the exchanges in technology and human resources. In 2025, trade between Shaanxi and SCO countries reached 776 million yuan ($115.4 million), 30.6 times the level when the base was established, official data showed.

Yangling is also home to the China Yangling Agricultural Hi-Tech Fair, which has so far held 32 editions and attracted more than 10,000 agricultural enterprises as well as research and educational institutions from more than 80 countries and regions, helping to bring more than 1,000 agricultural technologies to international markets each year.

Since 2022, Yangling has hosted the SCO Agricultural Expo, bringing together participants from all SCO countries and further deepening their pragmatic agricultural cooperation.