On October 9, Prof. Huang Sanwen, President of CAAS, met with Mr. Philippe Mauguin, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), and his delegation. The two sides exchanged views on strengthening China–France cooperation in agricultural science and technology.  

Prof. Huang noted that agricultural S&T cooperation is an important component of the China–France strategic partnership. With strong complementarity, CAAS and INRAE have a solid basis for cooperation and broad potential for further collaboration. He expressed the hope that the two sides will expand and deepen cooperation in key areas including crop breeding, plant protection, agroecology and climate change, and animal husbandry and veterinary medicine; fully leverage the role of China–France joint laboratories; strengthen scientist exchanges; and explore coordination and synergies under the International Mega Science Project: From Genome to Phenome - Deciphering Crop Genetic Resources (G2P) framework, so as to jointly promote high-quality agricultural development in both countries.  

Mr. Mauguin spoke highly of the outcomes of cooperation between the two institutions and expressed his willingness to further enhance all-round exchanges and collaboration with CAAS. During the meeting, the Institute of Crop Sciences (ICS-CAAS) and the Institute of Plant Protection (IPPCAAS) renewed cooperation agreements with INRAE for their joint laboratory collaboration.  

Prof. Sun Tan, Vice President of CAAS, attended the meeting. Also present were the Agricultural Counsellor and the Science and Technology Officer from the Embassy of France in China, as well as representatives from the Department of International Cooperation, CAAS, ICS-CAAS, IPPCAAS, the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture (IEDA-CAAS), and the Institute of Animal Science (IAS-CAAS).