On Sep. 30, the 2019 Chinese Govern-ment Friendship Award ceremony was solemnly held in the People’s Great Hall in Beijing. Prof. Didier Lereclus from French National Insti-tute for Agricultural Research (INRA), who is also a guest professor at IPP-CAAS attended the ceremony and received the award. Li Keqing, the Premier of the State Council cor-dially met with foreign guests, and Liu He, the Vice Premier presented the medal and certificate to all recipi-ents including Prof. Lereclus. On Oct 1, Prof. Lereclus and his wife were invited to attend the 70th Anniversary of the Na-tional Day parade and gala at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

The Chinese Government Friendship Award is the highest award established by the government of China to recognize foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China’s modernization and reform and opening up. In 2019, a total of 100 foreign experts from 31 countries won the Chinese Government Friendship Award.

During Prof. Lereclus’s visit, IPP-CAAS held a simple but warm award-winning sym-posium. Wang Hongqian, Deputy Director General, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA); Zhou Xueping, Di-rector General of IPP-CAAS, met Prof. Lereclus and his wife. Zhang Yahui, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation, CAAS; Dr. Li Zheng, Chief Representative of INRA in China; Li Hongkang, Secretary of the Party Committee of IPP-CAAS; Dr. Zhang Jie, Deputy Director General of IPP-CAAS attended the symposium. The symposium was chaired by Hao Weiping, Deputy Director General of the Department of International Cooperation, CAAS.

DG Zhang Yahui delivered a speech representing CAAS. He pointed out that CAAS and INRA had carried out close collaboration in the field of plant protection in re-cent years, which promoted the establishment of CAAS-INRA Joint Laboratory for Plant Protection (LIA) in 2018. Winning of the 2019 Chinese Government Friend-ship Award marks a new level of achievements for the Joint Laboratory. It is im-portant to strengthen the international scientific and technological cooperation on crop pests, relying on the Joint Laboratory, which will significantly advance the sci-entific and technological progress in agricultural pest control on both sides, and im-prove pest control capabilities and levels, and has great strategic significance for promoting China-EU agricultural trade and industrial security. Secretary Li Hongkang pointed out that the achievements at IPP-CAAS in recent years are insep-arable from the support of out-standing foreign experts such as Prof. Lereclus. She suggested that good experience on international cooperation between China and France should be summarized and publicized, so that all researchers in the institute will benefit from; she encouraged both partiesshould continue strengthening the collaborative research work, which will promote the healthy development of the Joint Laboratory and make greater contributions to the sustainable development of agriculture in both countries.

Dr. Li Zheng, the chief representative of INRA, read a congratulatory letter from Philippe Maugin, President of INRA. President Maugin congratulated and acknowl-edged Prof. Lereclus for his contributions and winning of the Chinese Government Friendship Award. He said that this award is not only the honor of Prof. Lereclus alone, but also the honor of INRA, and it represents the fruitful cooperation be-tween INRA and CAAS. President Maugin also pointed out that tremendous efforts of Chinese and French researchers will contribute to the development of agro-ecological transformation and the establishment of a healthy planet in the context of climate change.

DDG Zhang Jie and Professor Lereclus, respectively, reviewed the history and achievements of the cooperation between the two sides, and summarized the posi-tive role and significance of this long-term collaboration on the development of rel-evant scientific disciplines, talent training, and achievement transformation. They both look forward to more fruitful collaborations in the future.

It is known that Prof. Lereclus is an internationally recognized agricultural microbi-ologist. Currently, he is the Deputy Director General and Senior Researcher of the Institute of Microbiology of INRA (Micalis). He is mainly engaged in molecular ge-netics and research on gene expression regulation, quorum sensing signals and vir-ulence-related factors. He has been a member of the French High Commission for Biotechnology since 2009. Since 1998, Prof. Lereclus has started a long-term cooper-ation with the insect-resistant biotechnology group led by Prof. Zhang Jie, and joint-ly discovered more than a hundred of new Bt insecticidal genes, revealing new Bt insecticidal protein expression regulating mechanism, co-publishing eight articles, applying for one international patent, generating important genetic transformation technology, materials and specific guidance for the development of the first effi-cient and broad-spectrum insect-resistant engineering bacteria in China. As a guestProfessor at IPP-CAAS, Prof. Lereclus has worked in China for a total of 12 months, and has jointly trained more than ten graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. One of them has been selected into the “Ten Thousand Talents Program”.

Chairman of the International Bt Insecticide Gene Naming Committee, Prof. Neil Crickmore of Sussex University from the United Kingdom; Prof. Huang Dafang, former DG of the Institute of Biotechnology, CAAS; Prof. Guo Sandui from the In-stitue of Biotechnology, CAAS all gave talks on their collaborative history and friendship with Prof. Lereclus. A number of scientists who have worked with or stud-ied in his lab also talked about their thoughts and feelings. The symposium was of great significance to further enhance the friendship between Chinese and French experts and promote in-depth cooperation between the two sides.

Yang Xiu, Director of the Division of Exchanges and Services, Department of Inter-national Cooperation, CAAS; Chen Julian, Director of the Department of Interna-tional Cooperation and Graduate Students, IPP-CAAS; and more than 60 researchers and students from IPP-CAAS attended the symposium.

By Peng Qi (qpeng@ippcaas.cn)