From June 12th to 14th, Prof. Muhammad Abdul Raoof, Patron in Chief of the University of Lahore, Pakistan, and Prof. Muhammad Ashraf, famous plant antagonistic physiologist in Pakistan, Academician of the World Academy of Sciences and the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, and the Vice-Chancellor of University of Agriculture, Faisalabad visited our Academy. Prof. Youming Cai, President of Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS) and Prof. Awais Raoof, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the University of Lahore signed a Memorandum of Understanding between SAAS and the University of Lahore. The relevant personnel of the International Cooperation Office, Institute of Edible Fungi, Crop Breeding and Cultivation Research Institute and CIMMYT-China Specialty Maize Research Center attended the signing ceremony.

SAAS is mainly engaged in fundamental, applied, and high-tech research relating to the agricultural sciences, and in the application and exploitation of research output. During the past years, the Academy has developed into a regional organization focused on a comprehensive set of research domains related to agricultural science and technology, with facilities housing advanced equipment and staffed by highly qualified personnel, and with a strong commitment to the application and exploitation of research output. The memorandum of understanding between SAAS and Lahore University was the first time that our Academy officially established a partnership relationship with a Pakistani research institution. It is the core spirit of “One Belt, One Road” initiative to promote the “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor” construction. 

After the signing ceremony, both sides conducted in-depth exchanges on the cultivation techniques of edible and medicinal fungi, the breeding and cultivation of functional rice, the innovation of specialty maize germplasm, the breeding of new varieties and the processing of agri-products. The preliminary cooperation intentions were reached in the fields of biomedical technology, ecological agriculture, morel cultivation, drought/salt-tolerant rice, rapeseed and corn varieties.The delegation also visited the Agri-products Fresh-keeping Processing Center of the Crop Breeding and Cultivation Research Institute, the Laboratory of Edible Fungi and the National Engineering Research Center of Edible Fungi. After the visit, Prof. Muhammad Ashraf expressed the hope of further establishment of an efficient exchange mechanism for excellent talents between China and Pakistan under the framework of the “Belt and Road” initiative.