The 10th Meeting of the China-EU Task Force on Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology was held in Hangzhou on Oct. 20. The meeting was co-organized by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission (DG AGRI). Sun Tan, Vice President of CAAS, and Nathalie Sauze-Vandevyver, Director of Quality, Research and Innovation, Outreach at DG AGRI, attended the meeting and delivered remarks. 

Sun Tan pointed out that China and the EU share common goals and interests in building a sustainable food and agriculture system. The two sides should further promote cooperation and innovation in relevant fields, firm up existing mechanisms, and make better use of the task force, so as to provide stronger technical support to China-EU S&T win-win cooperation. 

Nathalie Sauze-Vandevyver said that the task force is one of the key dialogue mechanisms for China-EU S&T cooperation. Building on remarkable results in cooperation food safety and water resources, China and the EU should boost cooperation in more areas in the future. 

The meeting affirmed the task force’s work in implementing the China-EU Research and Innovation Flagship Initiative over the years, and looked forward to further progress of this initiative so that S&T resources of both sides could facilitate China-EU research and innovation more broadly. 

Representatives from the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Mission of China to the EU, the National Center for Science & Technology Evaluation, and the Delegation of the EU to China attended the meeting, which featured both online and offline events. 

Meanwhile, representatives from CAAS, the Delegation of the EU to China, and embassies of EU member states also held a series of symposiums on issues related to rice and tea.