On March 30, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the Delegation of the European Union to China jointly held the "EU-CAAS Workshop on Agricultural Research and Innovation". The two sides had made in-depth exchanges on the CAASTIP (CAAS International Science and Technology Innovation Programme), the EU science and technology innovation programme “Horizon Europe”, and the priorities and mechanism of cooperation between CAAS, EU and EU Member States. CAAS Vice President, Dr. Sun Tan attended the workshop.

Dr. Sun pointed out that CAAS has a historical foundation of cooperation with the EU and EU member states. The two sides have broad consensus over cooperation goals and visions, and there are plenty of chances for cooperation in the field of agricultural science and technology innovation. Sun emphasized that China currently focuses on food security, green and sustainable development and rural revitalization, and promotes high-quality agricultural development through scientific and technological innovation, which also is the direction of Chinese agricultural S&T international cooperation and is consistent with the missions and priorities of the Horizon Europe and EU Green Deal. Sun suggested to further consolidate the sustainable cooperation mechanism between the CAAS, EU and EU member states, and to continue to promote substantive cooperation. He said that China and EU should build a mechanism together for linking resources and platforms and communicate over S&T programmes of each other to make the cooperation effective and complementary. CAAS and EU should coordinate the resources of all parties, and work together to achieve the goals and visions of agricultural science and technology development.

Mr. Philippe Vialatte, Minister-Counselor of the EU Delegation to China, stated that the EU and EU member states are willing to strengthen cooperation with China’s scientific research institutions including CAAS, and to work together to address climate change, reducing poverty and eliminating hunger through cooperation in agricultural science and technology innovation, as to achieve the SDG 2030.

Relevant stuffs of International Cooperation Department and the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning of CAAS, the EU delegation to China, and the Science and Technology Counsellors and Agricultural Counselors of 11 EU member states’ embassies in China including France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain, Finland, Sweden, and Slovakia participated in the event.

By Liu Wenbo (liuwenbo@caas.cn)