Dr. LI Jia-yang, Chinese Vice Minister of Agriculture and President of CAAS, met on 4^th April  with the visiting delegation from Thailand led by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

Dr. LI extended a warm welcome to the Princess. He said agriculture is a top priority in both China and Thailand and that the two countries have been helping and learning from each other through successful cooperation in agricultural technology. He said CAAS and the research department under the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, each with its unique R&D strength, have much to offer each other. In keeping with the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding between the two sides, CAAS, as Dr. LI stated, is looking forward to furthering cooperation with its Thai counterpart in animal and plant genetic resources, horticulture, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, biotechnology, integrated pest management, nutriology, agricultural mechanization and agricultural economics through staff exchanges, seminars and joint projects.
Princess Sirindhorn noted the great potential for China-Thailand cooperation in prevention and control of trans-border spread of plant diseases, hybrid rice, upland rice and protected agriculture. She called for a seminar on agricultural science and technology to promote cooperation and exchanges between scientists from the two countries. She also expressed hope that the two sides could strengthen cooperation on agricultural education, encourage mutual visits and trainings of scientists, and launch student exchange programs at the graduate level.
FU Xue-zhang, former Chinese Ambassador to Thailand, XIE Jian-min, Deputy Director General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, and Dr. WANG Ren, Vice President of the CAAS, attended the meeting. After the meeting, the Thai delegation visited the Institute of Crop Sciences and the National Agricultural Science and Technology Demonstration Park of CAAS.
                                                                    Thai delegation visits Institute of Crop Sciences