On June 20, Prof. Sun Tan, Vice President of CAAS, met with Dr. Najat Mokhtar, Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and her delegation. The two sides held discussions on deepening cooperation in the field of nuclear technologies in agriculture.

Prof. Sun Tan noted that earlier this year, CAAS and the IAEA renewed the agreement for a new cycle of the Collaborating Centre, marking a new milestone in bilateral cooperation. He emphasized the need to further optimize the working mechanisms of the Centre by establishing task forces to implement practical collaboration. CAAS is committed to actively participating in the IAEA-FAO joint initiative Atoms4Food, enhancing alignment between the Collaborating Centre and the China Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance (CAASTIA), and advancing cooperation in areas such as mutation breeding in response to specific needs from African and Southeast Asian countries. He underlined that nuclear technologies can play a vital role in promoting sustainable agricultural development in the Global South.

Dr. Najat Mokhtar commended the fruitful outcomes of cooperation through the Collaborating Centre, and expressed her hope that CAAS will continue to leverage its scientific and human resource strengths to continuously expand the impact of joint efforts and contribute to food security in developing countries.

During the visit, the delegation visited laboratories specializing in nuclear agricultural science at the Institute of Crop Sciences of CAAS (ICS-CAAS) and the Institute of Quality Standard and Testing Technology for Agro-Products of CAAS (IQSTAP). Officials from the Department of International Cooperation, ICS-CAAS and IQSTAP also participated in the meeting.