Wu Kongming, President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), met with Alexander Ermolaev, Counselor for Science and Technology of the Russian Embassy in China, in Beijing on Mar. 3. They exchanged views on further promoting China-Russia cooperation in agricultural S&T. Former CAAS President Zhai Huqu and Vice President Sun Tan attended the meeting.  

President Wu said that the time-honored cooperation between CAAS and Russian agricultural S&T institutions has been deepened and the multi-faceted bilateral cooperation is gaining good momentum in various fields. He said he hopes that in the future, the two sides will establish a mechanism for discussions among agricultural scientists; deepen cooperation in areas such as germplasm resources, breeding technologies, and transboundary pests and diseases; improve the quality and efficiency of existing cooperation platforms; and strengthen cooperation in the education of international students from the two countries. 

Counselor Ermolaev reviewed China-Russia cooperation in agricultural S&T in recent years. He said Russia is ready to further deepen its cooperation with CAAS in agricultural S&T, and he expected that the two countries could join hands in pushing for the healthy and steady development of agricultural S&T cooperation in the new era. 

During the meeting, Counselor Ermolaev, on behalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), presented the certificate of Foreign Member of the RAS to Researcher Zhai Huqu. The Foreign Members of the RAS come from different areas of science, and only 23 Chinese scholars received this honor in the past 35 years. 

Personnel from the Department of International Cooperation of CAAS attended the meeting.