Recently, Prof. Frederic Francis from University of Liege, Belgium, received the Friendship Award 2015 from the Chinese Government. This is the second foreign expert who won such honor in international cooperation in Institute of Plant Protection of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IPP-CAAS). IPP-CAAS initiated the award application document for Prof. Frederic Francis. The application was recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and finally evaluated by the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs (SAFEA).

Prof. Francis is the Director of the Department of Insect Function and Evolution, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liege, Belgium, the Director of the Research Institute for Agricultural Sciences and Curator of Wallonia Insect Resource Conservation and Insect Museum. He is also a visiting professor of IPP. Prof. Francis and his team mainly works on the interaction between insect and environment and has done good work in proteomics of aphids, metagenome, biosynthesis pathway of aphid alarm pheromones and the co-evolution of aphids and the symbionts.

Prof. Chen Julian in Wheat Insect Pests Group of IPP and Prof. Francis have cooperated for more than 10 years in the areas of chemical ecology of wheat and vegetable insects and green control technology of insect pests based on the principles of complementary advantages and mutual benefits and win-win collaboration. The collaboration achieved several technological breakthrough and established novel cooperation model that combines science innovation and postgraduate education. The two parties of the collaboration jointly published 34 academic articles and contributed greatly to the progress of the agricultural science and technology in China. The outcomes of the cooperation reflected mainly in the following aspects.

Firstly, the R&D of the advanced technologies that serve for agriculture, farmer and rural area in China. The measures adopted are suited to the status quo of the agricultural production in China. For example, 'push-pull' strategy for slow releaser of volatile biochemicals that can be used in early warning of insect pests was recommended and collaboratively studied. The ecological regulation techniques based on diversified crop arrangement can reduce the use of agrochemicals significantly. The intercropping of wheat and leguminous plants and mixtures can give play to the role of biological fixation of nitrogen and reduce the use of chemical fertilizer. The recommended techniques provided technical support for safe production of wheat and vegetables and application of green certifications for the growers in Shandong, Henan, Hebei provinces, etc., and have practical value to the 'two reduction' policy in China's agriculture, i.e. the reduction of chemical fertilizers and the reduction of agrochemicals.

Secondly, the innovative cooperation elevated the international influence of China's agricultural sciences. The two cooperated parties applied successfully 3 important international collaboration scientific projects. The total project budget reached 16 million yuans (RMB). The cooperation was highly valued by governments of both countries, China and Belgium, and became very important component in the memorandum on the Establishment of China-Belgium Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Park signed while Prince Philippe of Belgium visited China in 2011, and another agreement on the innovational collaboration in agricultural science and technology between CAAS, China, and University of Liege, Belgium,  signed during King Philippe's visit to China in 2015. The scope of collaboration between CAAS and University of Liege were expanded and the level of collaboration elevated.

In 2015, 50 foreign experts from 21 countries received the Friendship Award from Chinese Government. Two of the experts were recommended by MOA among them. The awarding ceremony of Friendship Award was held in the Great Hall of the People on 29 September. Vice Premier Ma Kai issued the award to Prof. Francis. Premier Li Keqiang and other state leaders met with the winners, including Prof. Francis, of this year's Award in the Great Hall of the People in the afternoon on 30 September. The winners were afterwards presented at the National Day reception.