The Pakistan Meteorological Department is using China’s MAZU-Urban system to support weather monitoring during the current monsoon season, tapping into an Artificial Intelligence-powered multi-hazard early warning platform developed by the China Meteorological Administration and made available to developing countries as an open-source tool for reducing the impact of climate-related disasters.
MAZU-Urban provides real-time monitoring and Artificial Intelligence-generated emergency plans across a range of disaster scenarios including floods, typhoons, and agricultural risks. Its open-source architecture allows local users to adapt and customise the system to suit their specific environmental conditions, hazard profiles, and operational requirements, which is particularly relevant for Pakistan given the country’s exposure to a distinct combination of monsoon flooding, glacial lake outburst floods, droughts in arid regions, and agricultural weather risk affecting millions of farming households.
Frukh Bashir, head of research and development at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said the system could help the department develop more forecasting products, making weather prediction more effective and helping authorities better anticipate extreme events including floods and droughts before they reach crisis levels. The current monsoon season adds urgency to the adoption, with Pakistan having experienced severe flooding in 2022 and 2025 that resulted in extensive loss of life and economic damage, and with the National Disaster Management Authority having already issued flood and landslide alerts ahead of this year’s monsoon.
Chinese officials presented MAZU-Urban as part of a broader approach to Artificial Intelligence cooperation with developing countries. Zhang Kailin, deputy director of the Department of Innovation and High-Tech Development at China’s National Development and Reform Commission, said China supports people-centred Artificial Intelligence and promotes open-source access, safety controls, and stronger Artificial Intelligence capacity in the Global South, aiming to balance technological progress with security governance. Gan Xiaobin, deputy director of the Science and Technology Department at China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, added that China has provided affordable open-source Artificial Intelligence models, intelligent products, and equipment to global users, describing openness and international cooperation as central to China’s vision for a diverse global Artificial Intelligence innovation ecosystem. Chinese officials also noted that Chinese open-source Artificial Intelligence models have been downloaded more than 10 billion times globally, with more than 200 derivative models emerging on average each day, indicating the scale at which China’s open-source Artificial Intelligence output is being adapted across different national and institutional contexts.
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