Participants of the 26th International Working Group on Ostrinia and other maize pests，IWGO, visited IPP-CAAS on 13 April. DG ZHOU Xueping met with Dr. Ulrich KUHLMANN, the convener of IWGO, and other participants. Dr. CHEN Julian, the director of the Department of International Cooperation and Graduate Student chaired the discussion.

ZHOU Xueping warmly welcomed the visit paid by the participants of the 26th IWGO first and introduced the basic information of IPP in scientific research, talent cultivation, international communication and collaboration, platform construction, etc. ZHOU hoped to reinforce the collaboration and communication with participants of the 26th IWGO and to enhance the collaboration under the Belt and Road Initiative so as to promote the development in researches in plant protection. Afterwards, Prof. WAN Fanghao introduced the strategic concept of the Belt and Road being implemented in China and its impacts on the international societies. He focused on the international collaboration programs that had been under implementation and the ones in planning. WAN indicated the important opportunity and challenges brought about by the Belt and Road in the areas of agriculture and ecology. WAN hoped to enhance the international collaboration and communication in plant protection under the framework of the Belt and Road. Finally, Prof. WANG Zhenying introduced, in detail, the research groups in the Department of Agricultural Insects in IPP and groups that are in other departments but have related researches in entomology, the staff, the research directions and research progress, etc. The participants of 26th IWGO got, therefore, an overall understanding to the researches in agricultural insects at IPP. The participants of the 26th IWGO, divided into three groups, visited the State Key Laboratory of Biology for Plant Diseases and Insect Pests before the discussion. Deputy Director General ZHANG Jie, Profs. ZHOU huanbin, GAO Li, and LIU Taiguo, Associate Profs. ZHANG Lei, SHU Changlong and GUO Jianyang briefed, respectively, the basic information and the research progress of the research groups in the Key Laboratory.

The visit paid by the participants from the 26th IWGO deepened their understanding towards the work carried out and the platform at IPP. This laid a foundation for later communication and collaboration in the areas of plant protection with IPP. Prof. HE Kanglai, Deputy Director WANG Lixia, the Department of International Cooperation and Graduate Student, IPP, and Dr. ZHANG Feng, the director of CABI’s East Asia Centre, attended the discussion.