On September 28, Prof. Wu Kongming, President of CAAS, met with Ms. Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and Environment of the Republic of Singapore, and exchanged views on further deepening agricultural scientific cooperation between China and Singapore.

Prof. Wu Kongming stated that in March of this year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong elevated relations between China and Singapore to an “All-round high-quality future-oriented partnership” , setting the direction for future bilateral relationship. Given that the world is facing various common challenges including food security, climate change, and food safety, China and Singapore have vast potential for cooperation in addressing these challenges. Prof. Wu proposed to integrate agricultural science and technology into the bilateral intergovernmental cooperation mechanism, deepen research collaboration in areas such as horticultural crop breeding, vertical farming, climate change adaptation and food safety, and promote the academic exchange and capacity-building, so as to jointly advance the high-quality and sustainable agricultural development for both sides.

Ms. Fu pointed out that the Singaporean government now gives increasing emphasis on the agricultural sector, and sets the "30 by 30" goal -- producing 30 percent of the nutritional needs locally by 2030. She agreed with Prof. Wu’s proposal on future cooperation, and expressed Singapore’s willingness to draw upon China’s technology and practices, and further strengthen agricultural cooperation with CAAS through joint research, thus to address common challenges and achieve the agricultural development goals of both countries.

Responsible officials from the Department of International Cooperation, Institute of Vegetable and Flowers, and the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture of CAAS attended the meeting.