Recently, the “China - Spain Joint Laboratory on Fruit Science and Technology” was established between ZFRI, CAAS and IRTA (Institute of Agriculture and Food Research and Technology, Spain). The parties signed the MOU for the Laboratory.

According to the MOU, ZFRI and IRTA will focus on the breeding of characteristic and disease-resistant varieties in fruit, fruit quality and safety, efficient use of water in fruit production and so on. This will be achieved through joint development of projects of mutual interest, training of PhD students and exchange of plant materials in the fruit, grape and cucurbit.

IRTA is the most important agricultural research institution in Spain, and it hosted the EU programme “Integrated approach for increasing breeding efficiency in Fruit crops（2010－2014）”. IRTA has made outstanding achievements in the collection and evaluation of fruit germplasm resources, fruit breeding, technology of fruit cultivation etc. Especially IRTA has led the world in studying on molecular markers in fruit trees and genetic linkage mapping.