On May 12, the 12^th Steering Committee Meeting of MARA-CABI Joint Laboratory for Biosafety, co-hosted by IPP-CAAS, CABI East Asia, and CABI Switzerland Center, was held in Beijing. The main meeting venue was set in CAAS, while attendees in Switzerland, UK, and Hungary joined in via video conferencing. Mr. Wang Hongqian, Deputy Director General, International Co-operation Department of MARA, Prof. Sun Tan, Vice President of CAAS, and Prof. Zhou Xueping, Director General of IPP-CAAS attended the meeting.

Prof. Hao Weiping, DDG of Department of International Cooperation, CAAS chaired the opening ceremony. Mr. Wang Hongqian and Prof. Sun Tan delivered the welcome address and opening remarks on behalf of MARA and CAAS, respectively. DDG Wang Hongqian remarked although the committee members cannot meet face to face due to the COVID-19 pandemic, participation in the video meeting also showed everyone's enthusiasm and support for the cooperation between China and CABI. He highly affirmed the significant achievements made by the Joint Lab in the aspects of bringing advanced technologies and ideas, academic exchanges and technical trainings, and establishing S&T innovation teams. As the 2019 chairperson of the Committee, he was very pleased to witness the unveiling of “China MARA-CABI European Laboratory”, and unveil the new plaque of “MARA-CABI Joint Laboratory for Biosafety”. DDG Wang Hongqian also reassured participants of MARA’s continuing support to the Joint Lab in Beijing and European Lab in Delémont, politically and financially.

Vice-president Sun Tan expressed sincere thanks to the International Cooperation Department of MARA for financial support to the Joint Lab and CABI, as well as the guidance and support to CAAS. He also thanked CABI for its long-standing support to the Joint Lab. We will build China into a society of moderate prosperity in all respects and eliminate absolute poverty in 2020. Agriculture is a cornerstone for social economic development. He put forward three suggestions for the future development of the Joint Lab: 1) To carry out more influential activities through optimization of the existing resources and events; 2) To expand the scope of cooperation internationally; 3) To strengthen and consolidate the current cooperation platform.

DDG Wang Hongqian chaired the summary report session. Co-Directors Zhou Xueping and Ulrich Kuhlmann gave a joint presentation on the Joint Lab Review 2019 and Work Plan 2020. The SC expressed their satisfaction with the progress made in 2019. Dr. Ulrich Kuhlmann, Executive Director Global Operations of CABI, was unanimously elected as the Joint Lab SC chairperson for 2020. Dr. Kuhlmann hosted the discussions on several key issues regarding the development of the Joint Lab and the European Lab: 1) potential impact on the Joint Lab work from the new Regulation on the Prevention and Control of Agricultural Crop Diseases and Insect Pests issued by the State Council of China and effective from May 1, 2020; 2) an agreement on exchange of biological control agents between IPP-CAAS and CABI Switzerland through the Joint Lab and European Lab platforms.

About 20 representatives from the Department of International Cooperation of MARA, Department of Science, Technology and Education of MARA, Department of International Cooperation of CAAS, IPP-CAAS, CABI UK Headquarter, Switzerland Center, and East Asia Center attended the meeting.