On October 17, P rof. Wu Kongming, President of CAAS, met with Mr. Roger Voorhies, President of Global Growth & Opportunity at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and his delegation in Sanya, Hainan Province of China. The two sides exchanged views on further strengthening agricultural science and technology exchanges and cooperation.

Prof. Wu Kongming emphasized that BMGF is a significant partner for CAAS. In the past two decades, both sides tied a strong and productive bondage, jointly advancing the Green Revolution in rice breeding and conducting impactful scientific collaboration projects. These efforts extended best practices and technological solutions to developing countries, including those in Africa, supporting local agricultural production and food self-sufficiency. Moving forward, both sides should build upon this foundation to further explore collaborations in areas such as biotechnology, animal health, and environmental sustainability. Within the framework of South-South Cooperation, the two sides should aim to deepen collaboration with Africa, aligning experts and technologies with local needs. Meanwhile, leveraging platforms such as the National Nanfan Research Institute (NNRI), CAAS and BMGF should further strengthen partnerships in talent training and capacity building, attracting more young African scientists to China. Together, CAAS and BMGF seek to help more developing countries enhance their agricultural research systems, benefiting global agricultural technology outcomes, world food security, and sustainable development.

Mr. Voorhies fully endorsed these collaborative initiatives, expressing his expectation to establish a regular communication mechanism to deepen cooperation in agricultural technology innovation and advance the integration of new technologies into agricultural production, jointly addressing global challenges such as climate change and food security.

During the meeting, NNRI and BMGF jointly signed an agreement on “Capacity Building for China-Africa Research Partnerships.”

The delegation also visited the Potianyang Demonstration Base for Smart Agriculture and the National Wild Cotton Germplasm Repository. Representatives from the BMGF headquarters and Beijing office, along with CAAS officials from the General Office, Department of International Cooperation, Institute of Crop Sciences, and National Nanfan Research Institute, attended the meeting.