On December 3 to 7, with the support of the Eurasian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CICA Regime Modern Agricultural Technology and Value Chain Development Exchange and Training Course was hosted by the Center for International Agricultural Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Department of International Cooperation of CAAS, and organized by the Agriculture Information Institute. The conference advocated and established Network on Agricultural Value Chain Development under CICA Regime, with researcher Nie Fengying of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences as the coordinator of the cooperation network. The cooperation network will be committed to the exchanges and cooperation in the field of agricultural value chain, and will hold regular activities to promote agricultural cooperation among CICA member states.

The training mainly includes two major topics: value chain development and smart agriculture. Covers the global and China's food security, wisdom food and zero hunger, value chain development research, opportunities for value chain development and cooperation under the framework of South South cooperation, wisdom agricultural technology research and development frontier, China's agricultural transformation and development, Chinese wisdom agriculture, etc. Intended to share China's experience in modern agricultural technology and value chain development with member countries of the CICA, promote information exchange among member countries in this field, and tap into the potential for cooperation.

Foreign Ministry Ambassador Gu Ziping emphasized that agriculture is the foundation of the country. To strengthen agriculture, it is essential to rely on technological progress. In the current era of excessive population growth and highly developed economy, how to make agricultural development keep pace with the times and how to ensure global sharing of the achievements of modern agricultural development are challenges that require our joint efforts to overcome.

Gu Ziping and Mr. Blerim Latifi from the Secretariat of CICA pointed out that Kazakhstan has developed its agricultural system through cooperation with China and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), resulting in increased exports of agricultural products. Within the framework of South-South cooperation, Kazakhstan has established an organic product certification system. China is also one of the main markets for Kazakh agricultural products and processed foods.

Hao Weiping, deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation of CAAS, stressed that Center of International Agricultural Research and Department of International Cooperation of CAAS will always be committed to strengthening cooperation with CICA member states. At the same time, it is also hoped that this training course will become a driving force for the exchange of information and ideas among CICA members, international organizations and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

The training course also organized students to visit the Institute of Crop Sciences, the National Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Demonstration Park, the National Agricultural Library and the Beijing Deqingyuan Ecological Science and Technology Co., LTD.

About 80 domestic and foreign students from CICA member states, CICA Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CAAS and other units attended the training course. Students from 17 CICA countries and international organizations, including Turkey, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Iran, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Philippines, India, Japan, Fiji, Pakistan, Cambodia, South Korea, China, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and International semi-arid Tropical Crop Research Institute attended the meeting."