LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has called for a new phase in Pakistan-China cooperation centred on data, artificial intelligence, technology and innovation, inviting Chinese technology companies and investors to partner with the province in building its digital economy.
Addressing the China International Big Data Expo 2026 in Guiyang, known as China’s “Big Data Capital”, Maryam Nawaz said that Punjab wanted to move beyond being a consumer of technology and become an equal partner in its creation and innovation.
She said that Pakistan and China should build a new corridor of data, innovation and shared ideas alongside their existing physical and land-based connectivity.
“Punjab has enormous opportunities for Chinese companies,” she said, inviting Chinese technology firms, investors and infrastructure leaders to establish partnerships in the province and invest in energy, computing, cloud, connectivity and tokenisation infrastructure.
The chief minister said that Punjab was determined to use technology to improve governance, transparency and public services, while describing data as a critical infrastructure rather than merely a technical or administrative resource.
She said that the province was developing an autonomous, secure and intelligent digital foundation aimed at connecting reliable data with identity, public services, infrastructure, energy, financial systems and economic opportunities.
“Data should not merely be collected; it should be transformed into practical action,” she said.
OneMap to integrate 12TB of data from 31 departments
Highlighting Punjab’s digital initiatives, Maryam Nawaz said that the provincial government was developing “OneMap”, a state-level shared data engine that would integrate more than 12 terabytes of geospatial data and over 6,000 datasets from 31 departments.
The system, she said, could support better planning, help resolve land-related disputes and facilitate more informed urban development.
The government was also linking OneMap with the Punjab Socio-Economic Registry, allowing authorities to better understand citizens’ needs, target resources more effectively and ensure that public services reached the right people, she said.
Maryam Nawaz said that Punjab was simultaneously developing a “Punjab Data Lake” and establishing its first dedicated data centre to strengthen the province’s sovereign capacity to securely store, process and utilise data.
The government was also working on a sovereign cloud, digital identity system, interconnected government systems and an AI-based implementation framework, she said.
Punjab establishes dedicated AI Office
Maryam Nawaz said that Punjab had become the first province to establish a dedicated “AI Office”, with the aim of placing artificial intelligence at the centre of governance.
According to her, the office would help improve decision-making, speed up public services, enhance transparency and make the government more effective and accountable.
She pointed to Punjab’s Safe City programme as an example of how technology and AI-based analysis could deliver tangible public benefits.
“Through integrated systems and AI-based analysis, we are making our cities safer, improving emergency response and making policing more proactive and effective,” she said.
The chief minister said that the real value of data would be demonstrated when it could help a businessperson establish financial credibility without traditional collateral, identify vulnerable families and deliver assistance more effectively, or provide farmers with timely information and targeted support.
She said that data could help tailor education to individual students, strengthen healthcare systems and enable environmental institutions to make evidence-based decisions rather than relying on estimates.
Huawei partnership discussed
During her visit to China, Maryam also led a delegation in a meeting with Huawei officials, where the two sides discussed expanding the Chinese technology giant’s partnership with Punjab.
The chief minister invited Huawei to make substantial investments in the “Nawaz Sharif IT City”, while discussions also covered the establishment of six data centres and a sovereign data centre there.
The two sides agreed on a strategic partnership aimed at equipping Punjab with artificial intelligence capabilities.
Under the proposed cooperation, Huawei master trainers will train 1,000 young people in Punjab, while 300 women trainers will receive AI training.
The meeting also discussed mechanisms for more effective coordination between government and business institutions, as well as Huawei’s potential cooperation in smart cities, command centres, healthcare, education, agriculture and manufacturing.
The Punjab government and Huawei also agreed to designate a focal person to make cooperation between Huawei and the Government of Pakistan more effective.
Maryam welcomed Huawei’s commitment to Punjab’s digital transformation and reiterated that advancing the province in the field of AI was among her government’s top priorities.
Provincial Special Assistant Ali Dar briefed the meeting on the AI Office, saying the Punjab government was working to ensure the use of AI in healthcare, education and governance.
He said that Punjab offered significant opportunities because around 65 per cent of its population is young, creating a large potential talent pool for the technology sector.
‘Data must create public value’
In her Big Data Expo address, Maryam Nawaz stressed that the ultimate objective of digital transformation was not simply to accumulate increasingly large volumes of information but to turn data into economic and public value.
She said that the experience of governing a province with a population of around 128 million had reinforced the importance of data-driven decision-making.
She noted that every dataset and algorithm ultimately affected people’s lives and therefore technology should be developed with practical public outcomes in mind.
Maryam Nawaz praised Guizhou for pursuing a data-driven development model and said Punjab intended to follow a similar path while adapting it to its own requirements.
She also linked the digital agenda to the broader Pakistan-China relationship, saying the two countries’ friendship was rooted not only in government-to-government ties but also in trust, mutual respect and relations between their peoples.
She credited Chinese President Xi Jinping’s leadership, the longstanding contribution of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s continued commitment with helping advance the relationship.
The chief minister said that she was proud to carry forward the legacy of Pakistan-China friendship and take it into a new arena focused on data, technology and joint innovation.
She expressed hope that Pakistan and China would transform their shared vision of a digital economy into a new chapter of cooperation, innovation, development and shared prosperity.
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