On January 10, Prof. Lise Korsten, President of the African Academy of Sciences, Academician of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), and Professor of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, visited the Malianwa Campus of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and took part in a symposium at the Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IPPCAAS). The visit was accompanied by Ms. Qian Yu, Deputy Director General, Department of International Cooperation (CAAS), Dr. Zhang Shuai, Deputy Director, Division of the Bilateral Partnership, Department of International Cooperation, CAAS, and Prof. Zhou Xudong from Zhejiang A&F University. A seminar on the topic of plant health was held at IPPCAAS, which was joined by Prof. Zhou Xueping, Director of the State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests of IPPCAAS, Prof. Xu Shufa, Chief Scientist of the Rearing Resource Innovation Team, 

Institute of Apicultural Research of CAAS, and others. The seminar was chaired by Prof. Zhang Jie, Deputy Director General of IPPCAAS.

DDG Zhang Jie extended a warm welcome to President Korsten. Through showing her around the exhibition hall, he briefly introduced the history, scientific and technological innovation, international cooperation, and achievement transformation of IPPCAAS. At the seminar, President Korsten first introduced the development history, future direction, strategic goals, organizational structure, talent cultivation goals and key development areas of the African Academy of Sciences, and focused on the development platform of China-Africa cooperation and the cooperative areas to be carried out. She also gave a presentation on theme of “Creating Resilient, Biodiverse and Sustainable Food Systems”, in which she discussed the current state of food demand in Africa, and proposed challenges, problems and possible solutions in the field of plant health under the umbrella of "One Health". The experts at the meeting had a heated discussion and exchanged ideas on the areas of cooperation and platform construction that they were concerned about.

It was reported that CAAS and AAS jointly initiated the founding of the China-Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance in 2024 , aiming to promote the development of modern agriculture in China and Africa by strengthening exchanges and cooperation in agricultural science and technology between China and Africa, help Africa reduce hunger and poverty, improve the livelihood of small farmers, and serve the trade and industrial development of agricultural products between China and Africa. The visit of President Korsten enhanced the in-depth understanding of China and Africa in the field of plant health, and laid a solid foundation for promoting future cooperation between the two sides.

More than 30 people attended the meeting, including leaders and experts from the Department of International Cooperation, IPPCAAS, the Institute of Apicultural Research of CAAS, the Institute of Food and Science and Technology of CAAS.