From June 15 to 20, a delegation led by Prof. Huang Sanwen, President of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), visited Italy and the Netherlands. In Italy, they attended the FAO Global Conference on Agricultural and Food Biotechnology; in the Netherlands, they paid an academic visit to Wageningen University & Research (WUR) at the university's invitation.
In Italy, the delegation actively participated in the Biotechnology Conference and delivered speeches on key topics. At the opening ceremony, Prof. Huang underscored that agricultural biotechnology plays a vital role in addressing global challenges such as climate change and food security. Through breakthrough innovations, CATAS has helped shift the tropical crop industry from “technology importation to exportation,” and supported countries such as the Republic of the Congo and Sri Lanka in improving crop productivity via international cooperation.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu met with the delegation and spoke highly of CATAS’s leadership in tropical agricultural innovation and its influence in global technology promotion and application. The delegation also held bilateral meetings with FAO’s Office of Innovation, Plant Production and Protection Division, South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division, and the Permanent Representation of China to UN Food and Agriculture Agencies. Consensus was reached on strengthening tropical agricultural cooperation under South-South and triangular frameworks, advancing the “One Country, One Product” initiative, promoting biotechnology collaboration, enhancing capacity building, and improving the operational mechanisms of reference centers.
In the Netherlands, the delegation conducted academic exchanges with experts from Wageningen University’s Plant Sciences Group, visited local breeding enterprises, and hosted a recruitment seminar for overseas talents. Nearly 60 Chinese graduate students and postdoctoral researchers currently studying in the Netherlands attended the event.
This visit effectively enhanced CATAS’s international standing as the “national team” for tropical agriculture, deepened and expanded its collaboration network with international organizations and key scientific institutions, and laid the foundation for future technological innovation and talent acquisition in tropical agriculture.
Delegation members included representatives from CATAS’s Institutes of Germplasm Resources, Environmental and Plant Protection, Coconut Research, and the Department of International Cooperation.
