To promote the construction of the SAAS's international agricultural innovation platform and strengthen financial performance management, from April 22 to 30, 2025, a six-member delegation led by Vice President Shen Xiaohui, visited Mexico and Chile at the invitation of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. The visit yielded significant outcomes in international innovation platform development, germplasm resource innovation, and financial performance management.

During the CIMMYT visit, Dr. Sarah Jane, Deputy Director (Chief Science and Innovation Officer) of CIMMYT, received the delegation and convened a joint working meeting for the CIMMYT-China Center for Special Maize Research (CCSMRC). The delegation engaged in in-depth discussions with CIMMYT’s management and scientific staff. Dr. B. M. Prasanna, Regional Director for Asia at CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program (GMP), introduced the challenges and research priorities in maize breeding under CIMMYT’s new phase. Dr. Felix San Vicente, Chief Scientist for Maize Breeding at GMP, shared progress on CIMMYT’s maize research in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Dr. Lu Yuan from SAAS reported on the achievements and future collaboration plans of the CCSMRC. Experts and leaders from both sides held lively discussions on deepening cooperation in cutting-edge technologies such as digital breeding and gene editing, reviewed international financial performance targets, and clarified the specific directions and coordination mechanisms for the second phase of collaboration.

Shen Xiaohui praised the achievements of previous cooperation and expressed hope that scientists from both sides would jointly establish the CCSMRC as a globally influential innovation platform, with its outcomes extending to the global maize industry. During the visit, the delegation investigated CIMMYT’s museum and germplasm bank.

To advance the SAAS's international quinoa innovation center, the delegation also visited Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where they met with Vice Rector for Research Angélica Fellenberg. The two sides exchanged views and reached consensus on strengthening Sino-Chilean scientific and technological cooperation, talent cultivation, and performance management under the Belt and Road Initiative. The delegation toured the university’s key quinoa laboratory, where Dean Samuel Contreras of the Faculty of Agricultural and Natural Systems and Professor Francisco Fuentes, Director of the Quinoa Laboratory, discussed international collaboration in quinoa innovation research. Samuel Contreras detailed the university’s disciplinary development framework, while Francisco Fuentes showcased breakthroughs in quinoa germplasm collection and evaluation. Shen Xiaohui introduced the SAAS's disciplinary platform construction and international cooperation efforts, and Dr. Shi Biao, Director of the Biotechnology Research Institute, outlined the planning and preparation for the China (Shanghai) International Quinoa Innovation Center. Both sides agreed to further strengthen international exchanges and jointly establish the China (Shanghai) International Quinoa Innovation Center, signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalize their collaboration.

This visit enhanced the Academy’s strengths in germplasm innovation and resource utilization for staple crops, opened new frontiers in research and industrial development for specialty functional crops like quinoa, and provided critical support for Shanghai’s agricultural "going global" strategy.