Several major science and technology innovation platforms have recently been established in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

At the region's sci-tech innovation conference in Urumqi on Monday, four key laboratories were launched to advance research in ecological protection, water resource management, intelligent equipment development and energy chemical engineering, alongside a scientific and technological innovation institute.

Among them a national-level key laboratory focused on arid region ecological security and sustainable development, which is hosted by the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-constructed by the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of CAS.

The laboratory aims to address major challenges such as water scarcity and extreme ecological fragility in Northwest China's arid zones. It will center on monitoring and analyzing ecological security patterns, developing scientific water allocation strategies and promoting low-water-consumption technologies. These efforts are expected to provide technical support for enhancing ecological security and serving the sustainable development of the northwestern arid areas.

During a sci-tech innovation conference held by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on Thursday, 11 major research platforms were launched, including two Chinese Academy of Engineering academician workstations and some corps-level key laboratories and pilot-scale testing bases for commercializing scientific and technological achievements.

The new workstation of Zou Xuexiao, president of Hunan Agricultural University and a CAE academician, which will be based at Tarim University in the XPCC-administered city of Alaer, stands as China's first such workstation dedicated exclusively to chili research.

It will focus on key technologies for the fully mechanized chill industry chain, working to upgrade germplasm resources, promote integrated innovation in green and efficient cultivation and optimize processing technologies.

According to the corps, it now has a total of eight CAE and CAS academician workstations, 48 corps-level key laboratories and six pilot-scale testing bases for commercializing scientific and technological achievements.