On May 17, Prof. Wu Kongming, President of CAAS, met with Mr. Liu Hua, Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The two sides exchanged views on further deepening cooperation in the field of agricultural nuclear technology.

Prof. Wu Kongming reviewed the latest progress in platform building, project cooperation, capacity building, and policy dialogue. He pointed out that to ensure national and global food security, promote Chinese agricultural technology “going global”, and serve national interests, CAAS will continue to leverage its advantages in scientific research innovation and technology application. CAAS will integrate resources for innovation in nuclear agricultural sciences, find new support channels, and, taking the renewal of the IAEA Collaborating Center agreement as an opportunity, actively participate in the "Atoms4Food" initiative. The initiative, jointly launched by IAEA and FAO, will play a more significant role in addressing global poverty reduction and climate change through strengthening talent exchange and capacity building, and providing technical support to developing countries.

Mr. Liu Hua fully acknowledged the effectiveness of the IAEA-CAAS cooperation in nuclear agricultural sciences. He expressed hope that CAAS would continue to engage in foreign aid and deepen collaboration with the IAEA in implementing the "Atoms4Food" initiative, executing nuclear technology projects for food security in the Asia-Pacific region, and training international staff.

Mr. Gashaw Wolde, Division Director for Asia and the Pacific in Department of Technical Cooperation at the IAEA, was also at the meeting. Responsible officials from Department of International Cooperation of CAAS and the Institute of Crop Sciences of CAAS attended the meeting.