The 9th Steering Committee Meeting of MoA-CABI Joint Laboratory was held successfully in Beijing, jointly hosted by IPP and CABI East Asia Center on 21-23 February, 2017. Deputy Director General ZHAO Weining, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Vice President WU Kongming of CAAS, Mr. Ian BARRY, the director of CABI Asset Department, and DDG QIU Dewen of IPP were present at the meeting. Director General FENG Dongxin of the Department of International Cooperation, CAAS, chaired the opening ceremony of the Meeting.

DDG ZHAO Weining, Vice President WU Kongming and Mr. Ian BARRY made opening speeches, respectively. They unanimously affirmed the remarkable cooperative achievements and successful experience achieved since the establishment of the Joint Lab. The Steering Committee listened to the work reports for 2016 and work plan and budget for 2017 jointly presented by DDG QIU Dewen, on behalf of DG ZHOU Xueping, and Dr. Ulli KUHLMANN. The Meeting elected DDG ZHAO Weining as the chairperson, for year 2017, of the Steering Committee.

During the Meeting, the Steering Committee unanimously approved the Mid-term Development Plan of the Joint Lab (2016-2020). Affiliated to IPP, the Joint Lab will think of globally important issues, target at domestic demands in agricultural development, and expand the distribution of the Joint Lab in both China and abroad. Joint Lab will reinforce their own capacity and the construction of the platform for research and extension and form innovation teams with international impact for R&D of green plant protection technology, deepen international cooperation, develop domestic and international cooperative projects and build the Joint Lab into a first class international R&D center of transferring agricultural technologies. The participants of the meeting discussed deeply the signed Letter of the Intent to Establish an European Laboratory in Switzerland by the MoA–CABI Joint Laboratory, and feasibility of preparing to build European Laboratory. The outcome of this meeting indicated direction for the Joint Lab to go out to extend agricultural technologies, to strengthen the cooperation between countries along the Belt and Road and to assist IPP to build the international first class research institute.

More than 30 officials and experts participated the meeting. The participants included Director WU Lifeng and Deputy Director LIU Jiang from Department of International Cooperation, MOA, Deputy Director CAO Ziyi from the Department of Science, Technology and Education, MOA, Ms. ZHANG Shuang from the Department of International Cooperation, CAAS, Director CHEN Julian and Deputy Director WANG Lixia from the Department of International Cooperation, IPP, Profs. WAN Fanghao, XU Xuenong, HOU Maolin, PENG Deliang, NONG Xiangqun, and LI Kebin from IPP, Dr. ZHANG Qiaoqiao, director of CABI membership country, Dr. HARIETHINZ, director of CABI Switzerland Center and Dr. Stefan TOEPFER from CABI Switzerland, Dr. ZHANG Feng, the director of CABI East Asia Center and Dr. LI Hongmei from CABI East Asia, and officials and experts from Beijing Plant Protection Station.