2020 “Belt and Road" Forum for International Cooperation and Development on Agricultural Modernization, organized by China Agricultural International Cooperation Association and hosted by Jiangsu University (JSU), was held from Dec. 19 to 20. Representatives of international organizations, foreign officials, experts and scholars, as well as representatives of Chinese agricultural equipment enterprises, universities and research institutions jointly discussed the international cooperation and development of agricultural modernization under the theme of “human solidarity, digital empowerment and high-quality agricultural development” in the Belt and Road region.

At the opening ceremony, Mr. Deyne Tezela, Director of Agriculture Department of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Ms. Shandana Gulzar Khan, Member of Pakistan’s National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products, Mr. Antonio Tasso, Honorary Chairman of Italy China Friendship Association and member of Parliament of the Republic of Italy, Mr. Stephen Perry, Chairman of the 48 Group Club in the UK, Mr. Zhu Yuhua, Honorary President of Italy-China Exchange Association, President of Shanghai Zeng’ai Foundation, Prof. Drapaliuk Mikhail, Academician of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, President of Voronezh State University of Forestry Technology, Mr. Mouhamadou Ei Bachir Diak, Consul General of Senegal in Guangdong, Mr. Li Demei, Vice President of Cambodia International Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Zhang Zhongjun, Assistant Representative from UNFAO in China, Mr. Zhai Huqu, Chairman of China Association for Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation, Mr. Yu Hongjun, Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament, Mr. Zhang Lubiao, Deputy Director of Foreign Economic Cooperation Center, Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs, China, Mr. Xu Tongkai, Vice President of the Council for Promoting South-South Cooperation, Mr.Wang Chengbin, Deputy Director-General of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education, Mr. Shen Xuechu, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mr. Zhao Chunjiang, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Prof. Yuan Shouqi, Chair of JSU Council, Prof. Yan Xiaohong, President of JSU attended the opening ceremony.

In his welcome speech, Prof. Yuan Shouqi emphasized that this forum was intended to highlight government-industry-university integration, and improve international cooperation on production capacity. These could be achieved by helping companies better understand China’s policies, grasp the preferential policies related to investment, and set up international projects that supported all of them. He hoped that through the efforts of the government, industry and research institutes, we could foster the development paradigm with domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. In this way, we could fight the COVID-19 together.

The signing ceremony of the MOU between UNIDO and JSU, the unveiling ceremony of Ministry of Education “high-level” International Talent Training Innovation Practice Base”, the awarding ceremony of School-enterprise Cooperation International Talent Practice Base of JSU and the unveiling ceremony of Jiangsu University – Zhenjiang Longshun “Belt and Road” New Materials Research Institute were also held at the opening ceremony.

At the Keynote Presentations and Seminars on Dec. 20., Academician Zhao Chunjiang, Academician Shen Xuechu, Mr. Yu Hongjun and Mr. Zhang Lubiao respectively made keynote reports on “Smart Agriculture Development”, “Big-Data Applied Agriculture”, “ ‘the Belt and Road’ International Production Capacity Cooperation”, “Chinese Agriculture ‘Going Global’ ”. JSU President Prof. Yan Xiaohong, Mr. Liu Yinnian, Director of Nantong Intelligent Perception Research Institute, Mr. Wang Shengjie, Chairman of Jiangsu Yueda Intelligent Agricultural Equipment Co., Ltd. and other experts discussed under the theme of “Digital Empowered Agriculture”. Consul General Mr. Mouhamadou Ei Bachir Diak, Mr. Xu Tongkai, Mr. Fu Lang, Chairman of the Belt and Road African Studies Alliance, and Mr. Yang Guang, Deputy Director of Silk Road Productivity Promotion Center discussed under the theme of “Unity Bolstering Development”.

The Third Session of the First Council Meeting of the International Cooperation Alliance on Agricultural Equipment was held on Dec. 20. Prof. Ding Jianning, Vice President of JSU and Executive Vice Chairman of the Council, reported on the Council’s Work 2020 and proposed Work Schedule in 2021. The meeting also deliberated on the change and addition of the council members. Prof. Yan Xiaohong, Chairman of the Council gave a speech. At the meeting, participants had in-depth discussions on such topics as “international production capacity cooperation in the post-epidemic era”, “policies for overseas agricultural cooperation” and “going global” case sharing.

During the forum, the third session of the “Belt and Road” China-Africa Research Alliance was held to review the Alliance’s work in 2020 and discuss the work in 2021. The meeting also approved the change and addition of governing units. Experts at home and abroad pooled their wisdom and called for the synergies between government, industry, universities and research institutes. In particular, the African Research Union and the International Cooperation Alliance on Agricultural Equipment are expected to complement each other in a positive way to boost the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” agriculture.