Jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the First NSFC-BMGF Agricultural R&D Symposium kicked off in Beijing on May 29, 2024. Hosted by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the symposium focused on “Frontier Technological Innovations in Agricultural Green Development and Their Applications”, and covered topics such as agricultural information technology, innovative seed research and development, and Sino-African agricultural cooperation. NSFC Vice President Lan Yujie delivered the opening speech at the symposium, which was also attended by CAAS President Wu Kongming, BMGF China Country Office Chief Representative Zhi-jie Zheng, and some other well-known scientists.

“It is of great and far-reaching significance to promote international cooperation in agriculture and food sciences from a strategic perspective for mutual benefit and common development of all countries,” Lan said. He also highlighted NSFC’s unique role in promoting international scientific cooperation and called for greater and broader collaboration with international funding agencies, including BMGF, in agriculture, food, global health, etc.

The symposium brought together experts from 15 countries including the UK, France, Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, Burundi and international organizations such as FAO and CGIAR, as well as nearly 300 researchers and scholars from domestic agricultural universities and research institutes.