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Which EU-China priorities for food, agriculture and biotechnology R&I?

China and the EU cooperate since 2013 on food, agriculture and biotechnology research and innovation. The European Commission invited 60 European and Chinese experts to explore avenues for future collaboration under Horizon 2020. Reports are now available.

Related topics

Agriculture & Forestry Food & Healthy Diet Biotechnology Belgium Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, maritime and martime inland water research and bio-economy China

date:  16/01/2017

Research and innovation in the field of Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology (FAB) has been identified as a key priority for the EU – China cooperation, with a dedicated EU - China Task Force on FAB established in 2013.

In the scope of this flagship initiative, the European Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture and rural development, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Horizon 2020 funded project DRAGON-STAR plus hosted an EU – China FAB expert seminar on 27 October 2016.

The seminar brought together around 60 experts from both EU and China to discuss and explore potential further developments of the EU-China research and innovation cooperation in the FAB fields.

Specific objectives of the workshop were to:

  • discuss and develop further, with the help of experts, the thematic areas selected by the FAB Task Force that could be interesting for further bilateral collaboration;
  • identify possible objectives for action to address common challenges, hence forming the basis for further development of challenged-based topics of mutual interest.

The seminar consisted in two plenaries (opening and closing) and 6 parallel thematic sessions in the fields of:

  1. Management of genetic resources and pre-breeding / Bioinformatics
  2. Nutrient recovery and recycling (NRR) from agricultural and other organic waste
  3. Food safety controls across the agri-food chain
  4. Integrated plant protection
  5. Basic research on intra-cellular pathogens of animals
  6. Soil quality restoration and land management

In each of these sessions, experts presented their views on challenges and opportunities for cooperation from a Chinese or European perspective. Discussion then allowed participants to identify where are challenges of common interest and how best to tackle them through research and innovation. To learn more, see presentations and sessions' conclusions and thematic reports below.

Workshop documents

Presentations & reports

Plenaries presentations

Thematic sessions presentations and reports

1) Management of genetic resources and pre-breeding / Bioinformatics

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report

2) Nutrient recovery and recycling (NRR) from agricultural and other organic waste

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report

3) Food safety controls across the agri-food chain

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report

4) Integrated plant protection

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report

5) Basic research on intra-cellular pathogens of animals

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report

6) Soil quality restoration and land management

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report