Joint China-Brazil agricultural lab established

On April 13, 2011, the China-Brazil agricultural joint lab was inaugurated in the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). This lab is the first of its kind targeted at Latin American countries. It is designed to make full use of and give full play to competitive advantages in science and technology of CAAS and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), advance scientific and technological cooperation between the two sides in agriculture and natural resources, speed up conversion, application and industrialization of relevant technological advances, raise the international status and increase the global influence of the two sides in the field of agricultural bio-technology, promote sustainable agricultural development of the two countries, and make contribution to ensuring food security and raising economic benefits of China, Brazil and other developing countries.



It is learned that CAAS has carried out various forms of international cooperation in recent years such as bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental cooperation, guided by the principle of “keeping our own technologies at the core and adopting what is useful from others”. Consequently, it has seen expanding areas of cooperation and widening ranges of partners, rising international status and influence, and higher level of opening up which has begun to be carried out on all fronts and show features like high standing point, high level and diverse forms. Up to now, CAAS has entered a board relationship and conducted cooperation in science, technology and economy with 81 countries, 33 international organizations and 6 multinational private companies from all over the world; signed scientific and technological cooperation agreements with more than 50 nations and 17 international organizations and conducted productive campaigns under these agreements; and set up altogether 23 joint labs/research centers. Thirteen overseas institutes established their China offices in ACCS. During the period of the 11th Five-Year Plan, CAAS launched over 100 international cooperation projects annually, among which projects with regard to potato and cucumber genomics, prevention and control of transboundary animal and plant diseases and climate change projection models have high academic values and have created enormous economic and social benefits.
 
It is reported that another China-Brazil joint lab will be built in Embrapa in 2012, the first one China has established overseas, which marks an important step in the country’s global layout of agricultural science and technology.