Sino-German Agricultural Centre (DCZ) 中德农业中心

Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update 中德农业与食品通讯

No. 13 November 2020 – February 2021 Disclaimer

This newsletter is published under the responsibility of the Sino-German Agricultural Centre (DCZ), which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). All views and results, conclusions, proposals or recommendations stated therein are the property of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the BMEL.

Reprints or reproduction of any kind only with permission of the publisher.

Published by

Sino-German Agricultural Centre 中德农业中心 Room 724-27, Zhong Ou Hotel, 北京市朝阳区农展北路 55 号中欧宾馆 55 Nongzhan Beilu, Chaoyang District, 724-27 室（麦子店街，近盛福大厦） 100125 Beijing, PR China 邮编：100125 [email protected] [email protected] www.dcz-china.org www.dcz-china.org

Implemented by In partnership with Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update 中德农业与食品通讯 No. 13 November 2020 - February 2021

In this issue

Foreword

Cover Story • Highlights of 2021 No.1 Document Good to Know • Politics and Law: Leadership change at MARA; and more... • Economics and Trade: Anti-COVID measures on imported frozen food; and more... • Science: Five Chinese agricultural universities among the top ten of world agricultural universities; and more... DCZ Activities • 6th Sino-German Agricultural Week held in Beijing • Participation in Seminar on -EU China Agreement on Geographical Indications (GIs) • Participation in Workshop“ Chinese Investment in Europe” • Participation in “Insights on Agriculture and Rural Affairs” Forum by CAAS • DCZ S&T Platform participates in International Conference on Progress in Manure and Digestate DCZ in the Media • “Growth Center” – Article in China Daily introduces the DCZ Bilateral Research Cooperation Call for Papers Useful Websites Recommended Reading Upcoming Events 2021 Imprint

Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Foreword Dear colleagues, partners and friends, We hope you had a smooth and healthy start in the Year 2021 and the Year of the Buffalo. This edition of the DCZ newsletter covers a period of four months – and despite the holiday season they were quite eventful. Already in December the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the arrival of the new minister, Mr. Tang Renjian, who succeeds Mr. Han Changfu in this position. You will find a brief introduction of the new minister in this edition. The Ministry’s key areas and objectives for 2021 and the coming years are formulated in the new Central Document No. 1, published on 21 February, outlining the expected direction of development in the title “Comprehensively Promoting Rural Revitalization and Accelerating Agricultural and Rural Modernization”. To ensure the achievements in the field of poverty alleviation continued support will be provided during a transition period. Rural revitalization, green development and food security are continued as general development goals while the emphasis on the seeds industry and research is a significant, new feature in this Document. The enhanced development of the seed sector, seeds as “microchips of agriculture”, are identified as a key to addressing many agricultural issues. The DCZ expert Dr. Aihemaitijiang Rouzi presents and analyses the highlights of the Central Documents in the Cover Story. Of course, this newsletter also fills you in on a selection of our own activities, in particular a review of the Sino-German Agricultural Week (30 November to 3 December 2020), which this time also included the Agribusiness Conference. The COVID-19 situation did not allow the physical participation of German representatives of the BMEL and other experts, but thanks to the available technology this hybrid event with online and on-site contributions by high-level decision-makers and excellent experts addressed meaningful issues in the fields of “Modern Farm Management”, “Smart Ag- riculture” and “Security and Nutrition in a Changing World”. Furthermore, interesting news is compiled in the “Good to Know” section, and for the purpose of “self-promotion” I would like to draw your attention to an additional website established by the DCZ and dedicated to the topic “Smart Agriculture” at https://smart-agriculture.org/. You will find interviews with decision-makers, practitioners and experts which are the result of a “virtual study tour” with subtitles in German, English and Chinese. We hope this edition of the DCZ newsletter can again provide you with some interesting and valuable information and wish you happy reading. With best wishes

Dr. Jürgen Ritter Managing Director Sino-German Agricultural Centre (DCZ)

2 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Cover Story 2021’s No. 1 Document put heavy emphasis on consolidating the achievements of

poverty eradication. Highlights of 2021 No.1 Document The Document No. 1 proposes that after Dr. Aihemaitijiang Rouzi, DCZ, Beijing the completion of the poverty alleviation goals and tasks in 2020, a five-year transi- The Central Committee of the Communist tion period will be established for counties Party of China and the State Council jointly who have escaped poverty. The document released the Document No. 1 on 21 February also recommends establishing a monitor- 2021. This year’s Document No. 1 is in line ing system to prevent returning to poverty with China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP) for and an assistance mechanism. To keep the 2021-2025 and economic goals set out to momentum, mass-scale employment, rural 2035. This document is entitled “Opinions of industrialization, infrastructure develop- the Central Committee of the Communist ment and social management initiatives Party of China and the State Council on Com- will be initiated and expanded. The docu- prehensively Promoting Rural Revitalization ment requires that during the transition and Accelerating Agricultural and Rural Mod- period, overall stability of the current main ernization”. The document includes five ma- assistance policies will be maintained in jor sections and 26 paragraphs and clearly order to achieve the transition from pov- lists the targets and tasks concerning agricul- erty alleviation to comprehensive promo- ture and rural areas for 2021, as well as a tion of rural revitalization. During this peri- broader vision for the period up to 2025. od, social assistance to farmers will be con- I Major highlights of 2021 Document No. 1 tinued. The document also instructed to establish low-income population monitor- 1. Poverty eradication: 2020 was the year ing system where targeted employment that China eliminated extreme poverty, and social assistance programs can be initi- which is defined as earning less than $620 ated to help those who are concerned. a year, according to China’s official poverty Central and western regions of China will definition (BBC). On 25 February 2021, be in the main focus of these efforts. Farm- President Xi declared complete victory on ers’ income will be doubled from 2010 lev- “eradicating extreme poverty”. "According el. After the release of the document, on to the current criteria, all 98.99 million 25 February 2021, the National Rural Revi- poor rural population have been taken out of poverty, and 832 poverty-stricken coun- talization Bureau国家乡村振兴局 ( ) has ties as well as 128,000 villages have been been established under the Ministry of removed from the poverty list," Xi said Agriculture and Rural Affairs to consolidate (BBC). That definition of the poverty line as the achievements of poverty eradication less than 4,000 yuan ($620) a year, or and promote rural revitalization. This new $1.69 per day is less than the World Bank’s Bureau replaces the former “State council threshold of $1.90 a day and well below office for poor region’s economic develop- the $5.50 per day that economists recom- ment” (Sina). At vice-ministerial level the mend for upper-middle-income countries new bureau provides a powerful admin- (Washington Post). Hence, despite these istration which will give a new momentum achievements, China still has a long way to to China’s rural revitalization efforts. tackle relative poverty and structural ine- qualities in the years to come. Therefore,

3 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

2. Rural revitalization: A modernized rural and promotion of combatting desertifica- industrial production system shall be es- tion, soil pollution prevention and water tablished in which village, township and protection measures. counties will be integrated into broader 4. Food security: The document states that agricultural value chains. It is aimed that functional grain production zones and im- by 2025, 500 modern agricultural demon- portant agricultural zones should be con- stration zones will be established. The structed, and a national food security pro- “Ten thousand enterprises in ten thou- duction belt should be established. The sand villages” campaign should be initiat- document emphasizes to keep the “red ed to further enhance the development of line” of 1.8 billion mu (120 million hec- villages. Rural road construction, rural tare) of arable land for food security and drinking water infrastructure, rural sanita- aims to sustain 100 million mu (6.6 million tion, clean toilet initiatives, rural digitaliza- hectare) of high-quality farmland to en- tion, improvements in integrated function sure high yields and stable production of the village will be realized. By 2025, through 2021. The use of farmland for running drinking water coverage in rural “non- agricultural” purposes and conver- areas will be increased to 88%. Following sion of croplands to production of the given plan, the modernization of agri- nongrain crops should be curbed and culture and rural areas will reach signifi- strictly controlled. Overall food grain pro- cant progress by 2025 and the construc- duction will be kept above 650 million tion of rural infrastructure and moderniza- tons. A policy system in which provincial tion will be basically completed. The digi- governors are responsible for food securi- tal rural development will be intensified ty and municipal mayors are responsible by further expansion of 5G, mobile and for the “vegetable basket” will be imple- internet-based logistics. mented and continued. 3. Rural green development: As in previous The document stresses the importance of No. 1 documents, the 2021 document sets insuring “grain, cotton, oil, sugar and a focus on soil rehabilitation, especially of meat” supply security. The document also the degraded fertile black soil in China’s states that the policy to guarantee mini- North-eastern grain belt. As in former doc- mum prices for rice and wheat will be con- uments, it stresses that reliance on miner- tinued, corn and soybean will continue to al fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides be targeted by the existing subsidy policy. shall be reduced and green agricultural Experimental zones for testing cost and development shall be promoted, Agri- income insurances for rice, wheat and corn chemical packages recycle campaign will be established and expanded. To op- should be initiated. The document further timize agricultural trade, agricultural im- proposes to establish a series of experi- port diversification will be implemented mental counties for agricultural pollution and companies’ entrance into the global control along the Yangtze and Yellow river agricultural supply chain will be supported. economic belt. In addition, it is stressed to

improve monitoring and certification of 1 “green” agriculture products1. The docu- It should be noted that there are two official terms: “green” (lüse) is more general environmentally friendly ment further stresses the importance of production, but not necessarily fully avoiding the use of “returning farmlands into forests”, the agrichemicals). Organic (youji) refers to certified organ- grassland restoration compensation policy ic products (without use of agrochemicals).

4 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

According to the document, reliable pork could provide valuable lessons for Chinese production will be sustained, the lamb and rural green development. German compa- beef sector will be actively developed, and nies also could offer collaboration in seed the milk sector will be revitalized. For the and breeding sector with their Chinese first time, the No.1 Document notes the counterparts. China can also share its ad- prevention of food waste and proposes vancements in digitalization of the agricul- food waste prevention in production, ture and agri-food e-commerce technology. transportation, storage and consumption. Although Sino-German agricultural trade was impacted by the outbreak of swine flu 5. Seed and breeding: The document states in Germany and COVID-19, trade opportu- that the development and utilization of nities for the two countries in the agri-food agricultural seed sources/germplasm sector can be expected to expand in the should be strengthened, and a national future. germplasm bank should be established. The implementation of major scientific Sources cited: and technological projects in agricultural https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s? biological breeding shall gain momentum. id=1692354477179416559&wfr=spider&for It is stated that a plan for new series of =pc genetically improved poultry and animal breeding and plant seeds should be real- http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2021- ized and the application of biological 02/21/c_1127122097.htm breeding should also be promoted. Fur- http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021- thermore, protection mechanisms for in- 02/21/c_139757056.htm tellectual properties of seed and breeding should be intensified. Leading enterprises https://www.globaltimes.cn/ in the seed industry shall be supported to page/202102/1216103.shtml establish and improve commercial breed- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia- ing systems. The construction of the Nan- china-56194622 fan Center for Seed and Animal Breeding, the so-called “Southern Silicon Valley” in https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2021-02-

Hainan province, aims to strengthen the 26/doc-ikftpnny9758036.shtml construction of seed production bases and https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ improved seed breeding systems, to study asia_pacific/china-poverty-economy- major varieties of research, development growth/2021/02/25/9e92cb18-7722-11eb- and post-promotion subsidy policies, and 9489-8f7dacd51e75_story.html to promote the integrated development of breeding. II Implications and potentials for Sino- German Cooperation in agriculture The No.1 Document could provide multiple avenues to further Sino-German cooperation in the agriculture sector. Germany can share many lessons and experiences with China learnt from its rural revitalization initiatives; particularly, Germany’s green development and the EU “green new deal”

5 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Tang Renjian Han Changfu

Good to Know "Establishing Agriculture's Tax-Free Era”. Source: dimsums.blogspot, 22 December 2020 Politics and Law

Leadership change at Ministry for Agri- NPC reviews draft law on food waste culture and Rural Affairs On 22 December China’s top legislature, the After being appointed as Party Secretary in Standing Committee of the National People’s the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Congress (NPC), reviewed the first draft of a in November 2020, Mr. Tang Renjian also proposed law on food waste. The law is seen succeeded Mr. Han Changfu as new Minister as a crucial move to reduce food waste, in December 2020. which is estimated to amount to 35 million Before taking over his new positions in the tons of grain annually and 12 percent of Chi- MARA, Tang Renjian, 58 years old and a na- na’s harvests along the production chain. A tive of Chongqing, was governor of Gansu report based on a nationwide field survey Province since 2017. He now replaces the 66- states that pre consumptions losses due to year-old Han Changfu who has served as Min- outdated storage facilities, logistics and pro- ister of Agriculture since 2009 and was head cessing technologies are heavy. The survey of the Central Rural Work Group for the last also mentions that up to 18 million tons of two years. food are wasted every year in the catering industry. Tang has been involved in a number of rural policy and poverty alleviation working The 32-article draft law stipulates that the groups, including the drafting of the 2004 governments above county level should es- "Document No. 1" that launched China's first tablish banks and encourage food producers program of rural subsidies and cancellation of to donate unsold edible food to people in agricultural taxes. His works include need via social organisations and charities. "Respond to the Challenge of Entering WTO Livestreaming and other programs about ex- with the Strategy of Unbalanced Competi- cessive eating will be banned. The draft also tion," "Developing 'Company Agriculture' and suggests restaurants should remind custom- Agricultural Companies," "Nurturing Rural ers not to order too much. Informal Financial Organizations," and

6 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

ing ban also ecological restoration is re- quired. One reason for the serious decline of migratory fish is that their common routes are cut off by hydropower dams, which – as in the case of the Gezhouba dam – do not include fish ladders. https://www.thethirdpole.net/2020/11/24/ ten-year-yangtze-fishing-ban-not-enough-to- save-migratory-species/

Call for improving China’s seed industry and domestic animal breeding According to the Central Economic Work Conference that was held mid of December “Clean plates look better”. Poster in a Beijing 2020, the improvement of China’s domestic restaurant (photo: DCZ) seed industry will be one of China’s major strategies to ensure food security in the fu- The Standing Committee of NPC also consid- ture. The call for development of a home- ers a legislation on food security that takes grown industry for “microchips for agricul- into account food waste. ture”, as the importance of seeds was la- Source: Global Times, 22 December 2020 belled by some commentaries, comes in times of continuing trade frictions with the US, Australia and Canada. At present about Yangtze River fishing bans comes into 10 percent of seeds for corn and 13 percent effect for vegetables, notably broccoli, sugar beet and onions, are supplied by foreign compa- On 1 January 2021 a 10-year fishing ban nies. And according to official media, yield of along the Yangzi-river basin came into effect. soybeans and corn grown from Chinese seed According to MARA, more than 200,000 fish- supplies are lower than those of developed ermen will be affected by the regulation and countries, and China cannot supply some need to find new employments. It is hoped seeds for vegetables grown in greenhouses. It that the seriously degraded ecosystem of is said the China’s entire seed industry’s in- China’s largest river will recover and fish pop- vestment in research & development is less ulation including endangered species will in- than half of the German company Bayer. crease again. However, as some ecologists Consequently, China’s seed strategy seeks to point out the fishing ban might not be strengthen the development of seed banks enough to bring back some migratory fish and the collaboration between research insti- such as the Chinese sturgeon and the Chinese tutes and seed companies. A center for seed paddle fish which experts believe to be al- related research, also labeled as the “Silicon ready extinct. They point out that over- Valley for Seed and Animal Breeding” is un- fishing was not the only reason for declining der development near Sanya in the southern fish populations but also habitat fragmenta- island of Hainan. In Hainan’s tropical climate, tion by the massive transformation of the China also aims to develop advanced seed river in the past decades. And beside the fish- varieties for export to neighbouring South

Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Asian countries. genetically modified (GM) crops. Less than a month after the Central Economic Work Con- While some Chinese experts stress the pro- ference, the Chinese government approved tection of “native” seeds that in recent years genetically modified corn developed by Chi- are increasingly eliminated in the course of nese companies. On 11 January 2021, MARA modern hybrid varieties, the call for innova- published a list of genetically modified crops tive seed technologies is also a call for further for biosafety certificates. The list feature corn domestic opening up for genome editing and varieties developed by Beijing Dabeinong

Graphs: Import and export of seeds to and from China (2014-2019) Source: China National Seed Trade Asso- ciation (CNSTA); Analysis of 2019 China seed import export trade statistics 2019 中国种子贸易协会：2019

年中国农作物种子进出口贸易数据分析。

8 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

(DBN), a company engaged in swine produc- Amidst an international debate about the tion and crop breeding. The approved variety origins of the COVID-19 virus Chinese author- DBN9936 is resistant against the corn borer ities make efforts to prove that there is the and tolerant to herbicide glyphosate. Anoth- possibility of virus transmission via imported er approved variety has been DBN 9858 to frozen food. After single cases of infections of prevent development of resistant pests. Both workers working in the cold chain industry varieties are now approved for production in have been reported, Chinese authorities have China’s major corn producing areas. focused their epidemic prevention work on this sector of the food industry. Measures For animal breeding the reliance on foreign include testing and disinfection at customs, breeds is even higher. About 80 percent of protection of workers throughout the ship- breeding Holstein Cattle is imported. China ment chains, regular testing and, since Janu- also imports 10,000 breeding pigs every year. ary, also inoculation of workers. Although the But imports increased after the ASF crisis. 40 WHO and international public health experts percent of breeding pigs are imported from say that the risk of becoming infected by Denmark, but China is also importing from touching food packaging is low, Chinese au- other countries including France, Germany, thorities want cold-chain products to be dis- US and UK. infected and imposed bans on firms whose To reduce reliance on foreign breed Hubei products have tested positive. On 1 Novem- Province will become China’s first high-end ber 2020, Beijing Municipality launched a boar selection and breeding demonstration cold-chain tracing digital platform. As China base, where cloning technologies will be ap- Dialogue reports, all imported frozen food plied to protect endangered local boar spe- products, including beef, pork, poultry and cies. The base in Jingmen, run by the Hubei fish have to be registered on the platform Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Hubei before they can enter the Beijing market- Jinbao boar genetic Technology Corp is in- place. Several other local governments intended to protect precious and endangered cluding Wuxi in Jiangsu have introduced their local boar species and break the foreign mo- own platforms. On 24 November, China’s nopoly of some top breeds and make China’s State Council ordered an “Imported food cold pork industry more independent. chain comprehensive disinfection work pro- Sources: Global Times 18 and 30 December gram” that requires frozen food to be held 2020, Dim Sums 17 January 2021 separately in ports, tested, and disinfected, before being released to the domestic mar- For more information about China’s seed sec- ket. Massive testing campaigns have found tor, please also check DCZ’s recent study traces of the virus on a handful of boxes of “Seed Market in China” (2020) by Liu Yong- imported frozen meat and seafood, none of gong und Ba Feng. PDF available at https:// the food inside the boxes tested positive. www.dcz-china.org/en/dcz-publications.html According to a spokesperson of the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center, positive results were only found in 4.8 out 100,000 Economics and Trade samples tested. Most positive tests of imported meat and seafood have been found in COVID 19 impacts - Anti-COVID storage warehouses in ports such as Dalian, measures on imported frozen food Tianjin and Yingkou. In Shanghai, the largest port for imported meat, in November about 130,000 samples of imported food were

9 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

taken, but none tested positive. However, points of travel traceable. This includes fro- there were single reports about Argentinian zen grain products (such as noodles), dairy and Brazilian meat that were tested positive products (such as ice cream), frozen vegeta- several months after the shipment reached bles, fruits and drinks. No company or indi- the Shanghai port. It was also reported that vidual should purchase, operate, use, imports of those companies, where food transport or store any cold-chain foods that packages had tested positive, would be sus- do not have traceable data, including certifi- pended. In early November Chinese media cates and inspection and quarantine. Data linked a package of German pork knuckles shall be uploaded on the platform “Beijing imported from Bremen via Tianjin to a small- cold-chain”. er outbreak in a community in Tianjin’s har- Some analysts fear that the policies on han- bour district Binhai. Later, after the interven- dling imported frozen food have an impact tion of the German Ministry for Food and on food supply and market prices. In fact, Agriculture (BMEL), who according to Global China imported a record of 7.4 million metric Times stated “it was unlikely that the German tons of meat in the first three quarters of pork knuckles had triggered the infections in 2020. An increase of 2.23 million tons of im- China”, the Tianjin Center for Disease Control ported pork made up for the ASF related de- and Prevention corrected their investigation cline in Chinese pork production. The stricter results and now stated “that the recent infec- screening at the customs and disinfection tions were caused by pig heads from North rules also have led to a congestion of har- America, which contaminated pork knuckles bours, because now it takes several days from Germany”. longer to unload shipments. According to a End of January the Beijing local government report by Bloomberg at the end of January, announced that it will further strengthen su- hundreds of containers were being held up in pervision of imported cold-chain food. The Dalian, one of China’s major ports for sea- city ordered that from 12 February all import- food imports. Some supermarkets also report ed foods stored at temperatures of 0 degrees a sharp decline in demand for fish products, and below must make their sources and as consumers are reluctant to buy frozen food. Sources: Dimsums blogspot 21 December 2020; SCMP 11 November 2020; Global Times 11, 15, 24, 25 November 2020; China Dialogue, Bloomberg 31 January 2021

EU regulation for organic food imports from China makes testing for pesticide residues mandatory The “Guidelines on additional controls on

products originating from China” (effective from 01/01/21 to 31/12/21) introduce stricter controls for pesticide residues in organic food and feed originating from China, specifi- Screenshot Global times cally cereals, oil seed and oleaginous fruits,

10 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

seeds and fruit, industrial or medicinal plants, straw and fodder, residues and waste from food industries and Goji berries as well as products processed from them. All consign- ments of the mentioned products are re- quired to come with complete documenta- tion (certificate of inspection, customs decla- ration, transport documents and operators and product traceability from farmer to exporter and operators in between). At least one sample for pesticide testing shall be taken per consignment by using methods de- scribed by EU regulations conducted in ac- credited laboratories. If pesticides residues or other irregularities are detected, a notifica- tion to the EU Commissions Organic Farming Information System (OFIS) shall be made. The guidelines further note that due to With a share of 12.7 percent (2019) China is COVID-19 pandemic the implementation of the leading exporter of organic food and feed some measures might be hampered in some to the EU. In 2019 oil cakes (which are used member states, but as soon as related re- as animal feed) made up two third of these strictions have been lifted the measures exports. should be fully implemented. Source: EU imports of organic agri-food https://ec.europa.eu/info/ products https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/ sites/info/files/food-farming-fisheries/ info/files/food-farming-fisheries/farming/ farming/ documents/market-brief-organic-imports- documents/guidelines-addoffctrl- june2020_en.pdf china_en.pdf

11 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

China’s 2020 meat imports close to a https://www.thepigsite.com/news/2021/01/ record of 10 million tons burger-kings-plant-based-whopper-making- progress-step-by-step-in-china Even a slowdown of shippings by COVID-19 testing in the second half of the year did not In a similar move, the 24-hour Cantonese have an impact on last year’s massive in- chain Jin Ding Xuan (金鼎轩) announced in crease of meat imports. In 2020 China im- January that they will include plant-based ported a record of 9.91 million tons. Howev- meat from the US based producer Beyond er, this trend seems not to last. In 2020 China Meat to the menu of all their 18 outlets in heavily invested in restocking the pig farms Beijing. which had been affected by ASF. Rabobank therefore expects a pork production growth by 10% in 2021 and a decline in imports by 30 Science percent. Five Chinese agricultural universities https://www.agriculture.com/markets/ among the top ten of world agricultural newswire/update-3-china-2020-meat- imports-close-to-10-mln-tonnes-up-60-on- universities year According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking), Chinese Uni-

versities are among the top agriculture uni- Burger King introduces plant-based versities of the world. In the 2020 Ranking in WHOPPER in China the category agricultural sciences five Chi- nese universities are among the ten top agri- In late December 2020 Burger King launched cultural universities of the world (China Agri- a new plant-based Whopper in 325 outlets in cultural University rank 2, Nanjing Agricultur- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou. al University rank 3, Northwest Agriculture The new product can also be ordered from and Forestry University rank 4, Huazhong online platforms such es ELEME and Meituan. Agricultural University rank 6 and Zhejiang University rank 9).

12 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Source: http://www.shanghairanking.com/Shanghairanking-Subject-Rankings/agricultural-sciences.html

New project launched to strengthen toring. Through cooperating with the Group global agricultural drought monitoring on Earth Observations (GEO) and its mem- bers, the project will focus on establishing a Chinese scientists and their foreign counter- global agricultural drought monitoring sys- parts have launched a new project to foster tem with the Fengyun-3D, providing timely cooperation in strengthening global agricul- agricultural drought information services for tural drought monitoring, according to the worldwide users. The project will also help to China Academy of Agricultural Sciences innovate monitoring models and technical (CAAS). The project has been jointly initiated methods, and improve the international ap- by several organizations including the CAAS, plication of Fengyun-3D satellite data. It is National Satellite Meteorological Center, Bei- expected to strengthen the cooperation and jing Normal University as well as research exchange between China and the member institutes from France, Spain, the United countries of the GEO. States and Israel. Source: http://www.xinhuanet.com/ China's meteorological satellite Fengyun-3D english/2021-02/13/c_139741017.htm has global observation capability and good application prospects in global drought moni-

13 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Unhealthy diets, lack of exercise: over The 6th Sino-German Agricultural Week half of Chinese adults overweight (DCAW) was held from 30 November to 3 December 2020 at Yanqi Lake, Huairou, Bei- More than half of the adults in China are jing, as well as an online event. As an im- overweight according to the 2020 Nutrition portant bilateral exchange and dialogue and Chronic Disease Status Report released platform in agriculture, the event was jointly by China’s National Health Commission. The sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Agricul- report which is based on data of nearly 600 ture and Rural Affairs (MARA) and the Ger- million people the nationwide average man Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture weight of men is 69.6 kg and of women 59 kg (BMEL) and organized by the Sino-German and increased compared to a survey conduct- Agricultural Centre (DCZ). ed in 2015. The survey showed that a lack of physical exercise as well as excessive con- Due to its hybrid character as an online and sumption of meat and low consumption of on-site event, this year’s conference could fruit, soy and dairy products contributed to not only host many high-ranking speakers the overweight. About 10 percent of children and stakeholders at the venue, but also re- under 6 years and up to 20 percent of chil- ceived recorded video speeches and real- dren in the age between 6 and 17 years are time online contributions from Germany and obese. For this age group frequent consump- even California. With a daily attendance of tion of sugary soft drinks is a prominent over 10.000 hits, the viewers of the online cause. live stream clearly outnumbered the approx. 140 participants on site. Several Chinese me- Source: Global Times, 21 December 2020 dia reported about the event. Day 3 of the DCAW, the Open Day, was also on the news on CCTV-17, the “Agriculture Channel” of the DCZ Activities Chinese Central TV Stations. Instead of a separate event, the Agribusiness 6th Sino-German Agricultural Week held Conference was incorporated in this year’s in Beijing DCAW and, therefore, the DCZ compiled a

The DCZ Team (Source: DCZ)

14 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

program of four full days with a tight sched- ule of comprehensive presentations and panel discussions: • The Agribusiness Conference on “Modern Farm Management” • The Sino-German Agricultural Policy Dia- logue on “Smart Agriculture” • The “Open Day” as main event • The Science and Technology Platform’s “Forum on Security and Nutrition in a Changing World” In parallel to these events the Bilateral Coop- eration Project on Animal Breeding and Hus- bandry held two symposiums on pig and cattle breeding on 1 and 3 of December, re- spectively. Vice-Minister Zhang Taolin, ambassador Clemens von Goetze (Source: DCZ) The Agribusiness Dialogue on 30 December was opened by speeches of Mr. Zhang Tian- Berns (BMEL) who also is the Political Direc- zuo, Director General of the Department of tor of the DCZ. Many high-ranking speakers Cooperative Economy in MARA, and a record- from research and business shared their per- ed video message by Mr. Bruno Hoffstadt, spectives on state-of-the-art technologies for Head of the Division of International Projects digital agriculture. Dr. Jürgen Ritter presented and Twinning in the BMEL. In presentations the DCZ video output summarizing the virtual by academics, practitioners, and local author- study tour on this topic to Germany and ity representatives modern farm manage- France and announced the launch of the DCZ ment by means of higher standardization, website on Smart Agriculture (www.smart- intensification of production and different agriculture.org). Prof. Wu Wenbin (CAAS) operational structures (family farms, cooper- moderated the final panel discussion on mu- atives) was outlined. Modern milk production tual learning in smart agriculture with experts in one of the 14 German experimental fields from China and Germany. (DigiMilch) was presented by Dr. Isabella Lo- th renzini via Zoom. In a panel discussion the The main event of 6 DCAW, the “Open question of how modern farm management Day”, was held on 2 December under the can contribute to the modernization of agri- heading “Sino-German Agricultural Coopera- culture and rural revitalization was discussed. tion in a Changing Environment” with contributions by high-level VIPs: while Mr. Hans- On 1 December, the Sino-German Agricultur- Joachim Fuchtel, Parliamentary State Secre- al Policy Dialogue on Smart Agriculture was tary of BMEL delivered a pre-recorded opened by a keynote speech by Mr. Wang speech, Mr. Zhang Taolin, Vice Minister of Bin, Deputy Director General of the Depart- MARA, and Dr. Clemens von Goetze, Ambas- ment of Policy and Reform in MARA, and rec- sador of Germany in China, attended the orded opening remarks by the Deputy Direc- opening session in person and delivered wel- tor General of International Cooperation and come addresses. World Food Affairs (BMEL), Ms. Cornelia

15 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Cooperation between China and Germany Institute for Agricultural Economics and De- was addressed from different perspectives: velopment) and Prof. Matin Qaim (University Mr. Axel Wildner (Agricultural Counsellor at of Göttingen) discussed the impact of COVID- the German Embassy) presented the current 19 on global food security and trends and situation of Sino-German trade cooperation challenges for sustainable food systems. In and Mr. Damien Plan (Agricultural Counsellor the panel on global and domestic food securi- from the EU Delegation in China) introduced ty Prof. Si Wei from China Agriculture Univer- the “Agreement on Mutual Recognition of sity elaborated on food security and soybean Geographical Indications for Agricultural trade, Dr. Felicitas Schneider from Thünen- Products between China and the EU” which Institute for Market-analysis spoke about only recently has been signed by both sides. international initiatives for avoiding food loss Furthermore, achievements from other bilat- and waste. eral Sino-German cooperation projects in the Prof. Wu Wenbin (CAAS) presented SAGI, an field of agriculture were presented, while, integrated digital crop monitoring system. In finally, the panelists discussed future cooper- her presentation Prof. Sonoko Bellingrath- ation in changing environments. Kimura from the Leibniz Institute for Agricul- The “Forum on Food Security and Nutrition in tural Landscape Research (ZALF) showed how a Changing World” was organized by the DCZ with help of digital technologies ecosystem Science and Technology Platform in coopera- services and biodiversity protection can be tion with the Chinese Academy of Agricultur- improved. In the second panel on “Nutrition” al Sciences (CAAS) on 3 December. This event Dr. Lena Kuhn (IAMO) elaborated on how also could welcome about 140 on-site visi- international food trade impacts the dietary tors, including Chinese and international diversity, and Prof. Zhu Dazhou, Institute for graduates and PhD students from different Food and Nutrition Development of MARA, CAAS institutes and China Agricultural Uni- discussed nutritional quality analysis and as- versity (CAU) as well as 70 online partici- sessment of food. The concluding discussion pants. was opened by a keynote by Prof. Hans Her- ren (World Food Prize Winner 1995 and CEO Following the opening remarks by CAAS vice of Millennium Institute) with a call for trans- president Prof. Sun Tan and Ms. Maja formation of our food systems and action on Clausen (BMEL, Division Research and Inno- preserving soil as the most crucial resource vation), excellent speakers shared their for food security. views. In their keynotes Prof. Li Xiande (CAAS

16 Source: DCZ Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Presentations of the 6th Sino-German Agricul- tural Week are available at the DCZ website: https://www.dcz-china.org/en/6th-sino- german-agricultural-week-2020.html

Participation in Seminar on EU-China Agreement on Geographical Indications (GIs) On 17 November 2020, DCZ managing director Dr. Jürgen Ritter and DCZ science advisor Dr. Eva Sternfeld participated in a seminar of the EU-China Partnership Facility. The seminar was organized to inform about the EU- China Agreement on protecting Geographical Indications (GIs) which had been signed at the EU-China summit on 14 September 2020. The bilateral agreement protects 100 Europe- an GIs in China and 100 Chinese GIs in the groundwork for today’s cooperation. European Union against usurpation and imi- tation. The agreement is expected to enter At the seminar, Mr. Zhang Zhicheng, Director into force at the beginning of 2021. General, Department of IP Protection, Na- tional Intellectual Property Administration, Please find the list of all protected GIs: and Mr. Damien Plan, Agricultural Counsellor https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/ in the EU Delegation to China, explained the food-farming-fisheries/ importance of the new agreement for food_safety_and_quality/documents/china- strengthening bilateral trade and ensuring 100-named-products-eu-china- consumers of a guaranteed quality of prod- agreement_en.pdf ucts. According to a press release of the EU Commission, the Chinese market has a high- With more than 3,000 EU names registered growth potential for European food and as GI, EU quality policy aims at protecting the drinks. In 2019, imports of EU agri-food prod- names of specific products to promote their ucts reached 14.5 billion EURO. China was unique characteristics linked to their geo- the second destination of EU exports of prod- graphical origin as well as traditional know- ucts protected as GIs, including wines, agri- how. Around 1,250 non-EU GIs are protected food products and spirit drinks. In addition, within the EU, thanks to similar bilateral European consumers will be able to discover agreements such as the one with China. In genuine Chinese specialties. value terms, the market for EU geographical indications is around 74.8 billion EURO, or The EU list of GIs to be protected in China 6.8% of EU food and drink, and exports of includes iconic products such as Champagner, 16.9 billion EURO accounting for 15.4% of Feta, Irish Whiskey, Münchner Bier, Bayrisch- total EU food and drink export. EU-China co- es Bier, Rheinhessen, Mosel and Franken operation on this matter started in 2006 and wines, Ouzo, Polska Wodka, Prosciutto di Par- resulted in the protection of 10 GI names on ma and Queso Manchego. The list of Chinese both sides 2012. This agreement was the GIs includes Pu’er Cha (Puer Tea), Anxi

17 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Tieguanyin (Tea), Fuzhou Yasmine Tea, Tur- More: https://china-in-europe.net/chinese- pan Raisin, Mount Emei Tea, Shaoxing Rice investment-in-europe-entering-an-uncharted Wine, Jinhua Pork, Sichuan Paocai (Sichuan -territory/ Style Pickles). The seminar was concluded by an exhibition of selected Chinese and Europe- an GI food and beverages. Participation in “Insights on Agriculture and Rural Affairs” Forum by CAAS Participation in Workshop “Chinese In- On 15 January 2021, at the invitation of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science vestment in Europe” (CAAS), Dr. Jürgen Ritter, German Managing On 14 December 2020, at the invitation of Director of the Sino-German Agricultural Cen- the China-Europe Research Network tre, Dr. Eva Sternfeld and Dr. Aihemaitijiang (CHERN), Dr. Eva Sternfeld participated in a Rouzi participated in the 17th “Insights on Zoom workshop titled “Chinese investment in Agriculture and Rural Affairs” Forum. The Europe: Entering an uncharted territory”, regular academic forum where scientists, jointly organized by the Center for Economic policy makers and private businesses share and Regional Studies (CERS), Corvinius Uni- experiences and ideas on the “Three Rural versity, Hungary and the University College Affairs” of China (Agriculture, Rural Develop- Cork, Ireland. The workshop focused on Chi- ment, Farmers) is jointly organized by the nese investments in the European agriculture Center for Strategic Research and the Insti- and food sector and the health sector. In her tute for Agriculture Economy and Develop- presentation Eva Sternfeld introduced the ment of CAAS. The focus of the 17th edition activities of the DCZ in recent years. Howev- which was moderated by CAAS vice president er, as she and also the presentation of Niall Prof. Mei Xurong were trends in rural con- Duggan (University College Cork) showed, struction and infrastructure development. In Chinese investment in the European agricul- this context Dr. Ritter was invited to give a ture and food sector so far have been con- presentation entitled “Experiences from Ger- centrating on a few countries and items, and man Rural Development” in which he intro- for the German agriculture and food sector duced the status quo and challenges in rural so far no Chinese investments are reported. development of Germany and funding and support opportunities available for various

revitalization projects. Source: DCZ

18 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Other speakers included Prof. Zhu Qizhen, DCZ S&T Platform participates in the In- head of the Research Institute for Peasants’ ternational Conference on Progress in Issues of the China Agricultural University, Manure and Digestate (Jan. 25-27) who stressed in his presentation the importance of local farmers and limiting eco- On 26 January the S&T platform in collabora- nomic factors to be observed while undertak- tion with the Department for International ing rural infrastructure development. Re- Cooperation and the Institute for Environ- searcher Li Guoxiang from the Rural Develop- ment and Sustainable Development in Agri- ment Institute of the Chinese Academy of culture (IEDA) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences emphasized in his presenta- Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) organized a pan- tion that rural infrastructure will be a key el on “Animal manure management practices component of the “14th Five-Year Plan (2021- in China and Germany” at the international 2025) for Economic and Social Development online conference “Progress in Manure & and future targets for 2035”. Researcher Li Digestate. Science Meets Practice” by the Yurui from the Institute for Geography and IBBK-Biogas competence network. The partic- Natural Resources of the Chinese Academy of ipation in the conference also marked the Sciences outlined in his presentation the dis- kick-off for this year’s virtual study tour on crepancies between investment for rural and “Animal Manure Utilization” in Germany, urban infrastructure, demographic and social which has been designed by DCZ in close co- challenges in rural areas and proposed an operation with Prof. Walter Stinner from the integrated development plan that could over- German Biomass Research Center (DBFZ) and come these challenges. Researcher Wang Prof. Dong Hongmin from IEDA. DCZ spon- Shaojun from the Institute for Agricultural sored the conference participation fee for 15 Economics and Development of CAAS fo- participants from China, including research- cused in her presentation on issues related to ers from IEDA, the Biomass Research Institute road construction in rural areas and how to of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and address them in a holistic way. In an online Rural Affairs (MARA), the China Agricultural presentation Mr. Ren Qiangjun, vice director University, the Nanjing Institute of Agricultur- of agricultural division of Anji county, al Mechanization, the Jilin Academy of Agri- Zhejiang Province, shared the success story cultural Sciences, the Liaoning Institute of of Anji county which has become a national Energy Research as well as researchers from model for successful establishment of rural Chinese companies. Despite the time differ- cooperatives and development of rural tour- ence between Europe and Asia, which meant ism. that most events of the conference were scheduled in late evening Beijing time, there In the final session Prof. Mei Xurong invited was strong participation from China in the the roundtable experts including several vice conference, showing the great interest in the directors and party secretaries of several topic of manure treatment and biogas. 61 CAAS institutes and journalists from Farmers participants attended the China/Germany Daily to comment on the presentations and panel. In her introduction DCZ Science Advi- share their opinions and suggestions. The sor Dr. Eva Sternfeld introduced the DCZ and session ended with a comprehensive conclu- the collaboration with CAAS and outlined the sion by Mr. Zhang Hecheng, Party Secretary context of the panel within the framework of of CAAS. the upcoming virtual study tour on animal manure utilization with upcoming workshops in April and early summer.

19 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Dr. Sternfeld’s introduction was followed by a Animal Waste on Agricultural Land by MARA presentation by Dr. Liu Yi from the Biomass and standards for irrigation water quality and Research Institute of MARA. In his presenta- for discharge of pollutants from livestock and tion Dr. Liu Yi outlined the development of animal breeding. biogas in China. He showed that although the majority of biogas plants are small and medi- um sized facilities there is a trend in recent years towards large, centralized facilities. After a steep increase of small facilities in the first decade of this century, in the past years the number of smaller facilities has been de- creasing while the share of energy produced by large facilities considerably increased. Ac- cording to Dr. Liu, China’s Biogas industry developed in three stages: the first stage, starting from 1970s, was focusing on small household digesters and intended to supply farmers in remote rural areas with energy for cooking, in the second phase biogas development has been promoted for environmental protection reasons, by feeding biogas plants with agricultural waste; in the third phase the mitigation of Greenhouse gases became an important driver for the development. As Dr. Liu noted, in China economic benefits have not been the driver for biogas development, but environmental and climate protection benefits. In the final part of this presentation Dr. Liu also elaborated on the Chinese regulations related to digestate and animal manure utilization including the Guideline for Using Source: DCZ

20 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

In her presentation Prof. Dong Hongmin, the results of his PhD research on “Ensiling deputy director of the CAAS Institute for En- excessively wilted maize stover with biogas vironment and Sustainable Development in slurry”. Agriculture and DCZ partner for facilitating The last two speakers brought in the German the virtual study, provided an overview on perspective. In his presentation Walter Stin- the “Animal Utilization Practices in China”. ner, who is also DCZ’s lead expert for the de- Dong explained that at the present stage di- sign of the virtual study tour, elaborated on rect land application is the dominant practice the “Emission Reduction in the Manure for manure and slurry management from pig Chain” as digestate treatment and utilization and dairy farms. About 10 percent of solid is one of the most emission relevant part of manure is further processed and applied as the biogas technology. He discussed the Ger- commercial organic fertilizer and only 6.5 man target for GHG emission reduction and percent of solid and 20 percent liquid parts is the potential for emission reduction in the used for biogas production. As challenges for different stages of the process of manure and manure management Prof. Dong mentioned digestate treatment. The last speaker in this the contradiction between small-scale crop panel was Dr. Britt Schumacher, who is pro- farmers (as the majority of Chinese farmers ject manager for biogas technology at the have only about or even less than one ha DBFZ and project leader of the project farmland) and the increasing number of large “Energetic utilization of agricultural residues -scale livestock farms. Therefore, in China it is in China and Germany (ChinaRes)” (https:// considered to involve third parties for organ- izing the transportation and supply of ma- www.dbfz.de/projektseiten/chinares/ nure. But how to organize this system is still projekt). She presented the results of a re- under discussion. Another challenge is how cent survey of German biogas plant opera- to ensure the safety and avoid potential pol- tors. Results showed that since 2012 there is lution from heavy metal and antibiotics in no significant increase in the German biogas animal manure. sector and that new construction was limited to manure based small-scale plants. Howev- The third Chinese speaker was Sun Hui from er, results of the survey also showed that China Agricultural University who presented construction costs (EURO/kWel) tend to be

21 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update higher with a higher share of animal manure. Bilateral Research Cooperation The participation in the IBBK conference marked the successful start of the virtual DFG and NSFC fund German-Chinese study tour, which will be continued in early project on ecosystem services April 2021 with a two-day seminar on “Environmental and administrative aspects of The joint application from the Leibniz Center animal manure utilization”. for Agriculture Landscape Research (ZALF) and the Institute of Geographic Sciences The presentations of Sun Hui, Walter Stinner (IGSNRR), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Britt Schumacher are available for down- has been approved by the Mobility load from our www.dcz-china.org. More Programme of the Sino-German Center for about IBBK: ibbk-biogas.com. Also read Research Promotion (SGC). The programme is IBBK’s report about all three days of the con- supported by the Deutsche ference https://ibbk-biogas.com/progress- Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the manure-digestate-online-jan2021/ National Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

The aim of the project is to develop a coordinated, efficient and sustainable DCZ in the Media management and financing mechanism for ecosystem services considering the contexts in Germany and China. “Growth Center” – Article in China Daily The ZALF working group of “Governance of introduces the DCZ Ecosystem Services” will coordinate the FECC director Dr. Zhang Lubiao and FECC/DCZ German side of the mobility program, while project manager Guo Xin have published an Leibniz University Hannover and Humboldt article titled “Growth Center” in China’s ma- University of Berlin will make important jor English language newspaper to introduce contributions. The IGSNRR will coordinate the the Sino-German Agricultural Centre and its Chinese side, together with the Chinese achievements since its founding in 2015 as Academy of Environmental Planning and well as to give an outlook for the planned South China Agricultural University. The activities in the course of the upcoming 14th project is financed for three years from Five-Year-Plan. It was emphasised that as a 01.01.2021 to 31.12.2023. platform for agricultural cooperation the cen- For more information please contact the tre sets a focus on bilateral exchange on project coordinator Chen Cheng at ZALF technological innovation, control of plant and ([email protected]) or follow the updates animal diseases, protection of rural environ- on their website: https://www.zalf.de/en/ ment, rural governance and training of agri- aktuelles/PagesPB2/DFG_NSFC.aspx cultural personnel.

More information : http:// epaper.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202101/22/ WS600a0b4fa31099a234353710.html

22 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

DITAC – Digital transformation of China’s field, there is significant demand for econom- agriculture ic and interdisciplinary research to under- stand the potential of agricultural food sys- The China Research Group of IAMO success- tems in the transition to a bioeconomy. fully applied for a research project “DITAC – Digital transformation of China’s Agriculture. The IAMO Forum 2021 will address the fol- Process and impact on trade, sustainable and lowing topic areas: climate resilient production” funded by the • Land and labour market effects of bio- German Federal Ministry for Education and based products Research (BMBF). Collaboration partners in China are the DCZ, the Institute for Agricul- • Land use effects of biomass production tural Economic Development (IAED) of CAAS, • Trade-offs between sustainable develop- CGIAR and CAU. ment goals in the bioeconomy • To own, to share or to cooperate? – social innovations in agrifood systems Call for papers • Governance instruments and institutions of the bioeconomy IAMO Forum 2021 Agrifood Systems in • Bioclusters and regionalized value chains the Bioeconomy • The role of innovation policy in regional The topic of the 2021 IAMO Forum is economic development “Agrifood Systems in Bioeconomy”. The con- • Economic effects of new bioeconomy ference is going to be held from 7 to 9 June crops depending on the Corona situation either in Halle/Saale Germany or online. IAMO’s China • The place of the agricultural sector in Research Group, which also is a partner of the circular bioeconomy DCZ, will organize a panel focusing on calls • No limits? – ethical and public debates for papers related to the topic of the confer- around sustainability and new (bio) ence. technologies The transition to a bioeconomy is a potential The conference language is English. game changer that may have a large impact on food and nutrition security, as well as on More https://forum2021.iamo.de/about-the- the ways in which agrifood systems are de- conference/ signed and operated. With breakthroughs in Contact to IAMO China Research group: Dr. biotechnologies and a shift from fossil to re- Lena Kuhn ([email protected]) and Jerry Sun newable resources, the bioeconomy holds ([email protected]) the potential to contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture and the country- side. At the same time, such game changing technologies and trends raise questions about the creation and evaluation of new markets and value chains, direct and indirect ecological effects at different scales and the effects of social inclusions and exclusion. Giv- en that the bioeconomy is a relatively new

23 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Useful Websites the website of the platform https:// www.global-flw-research.org or contact the coordinator Dr. Felicitas Schneider at Thuenen Institute felici- New Website on Smart Agriculture [email protected]. DCZ has launched a new website: www.smart-agriculture.org . The website is the outcome the 2020 'virtual Recommended Reading study tour' on ‘Smart Agriculture’. Over several months the DCZ team with support of experts from IAK Agrar Consulting conducted Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide interviews with political decision-makers, Threatens China’s Rise by Scott Rozelle and enterprises and practitioners in Germany and Natalie Hell, University of Chicago Press, Oc- France. The interviews and presentations are tober 2020 available on the website in German, English and Chinese and address a wide audience. Food systems impact on biodiversity loss.

Three levers for food system transformation Global Food Loss and Waste Research in support of nature. Research Paper Platform https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/ The Global Food Loss and Waste (FLW) Re- default/files/2021-02/2021-02-03-food- search Platform is an online database system-biodiversity-loss-benton-et-al_0.pdf launched by the Collaboration Initiative on Food Losses and Waste by the Meeting of

Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS)-G20. On this online database experts can register in order to make their contact information and FLW project more visible on global level. Aim of the Platform is to offer easy access to focused information for policy decision makers, companies and researchers to facilitate network building, knowledge sharing and corre- sponding action. Until 2020 133 researchers from 32 countries including Germany and China entered their contact data into the database and provided information on about 105 projects related to FLW. China so far is represented with one project on “Understanding the importance for smart packaging for an improved supply chain” by the China Agricultural University, whereas for Germany 20 projects by Thuenen Institute, Julius-Kuehn Institute, University Stuttgart and University Kassel are registered in the platform. For more information visit

24 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Upcoming Events 2021

With ongoing Corona pandemic all dates of conferences and trade fairs tbc.

Date Location Event Contact May 17-30 Kunming UN Biodiversity Conference COP 15 of Convention on Biological Di- versity (tbc)

June 7-9 Halle (Germany) IAMO Forum Agrifood Systems in https:// or online (tbc) the Bioeconomy (with China Panel) forum2021.iamo.de/ about-the- conference/ 8-10 Gut Brockhof, DLG-Feldtage Meet the Crop Pro- www.dlg-feldtage.de Erwitte fessionals Lippstadt (Germany)

23-24 Hessian State Öko-Feldtage (Organic Field https://oeko- farm Glad- Days) feldtage.de/?lang=en bacherhof, Au- menau, Vilmar

25 Sino-German Agricultural and Food Update

Imprint

This issue was compiled by the international DCZ team. For enquiries and subscription please send an email to [email protected] Any news about upcoming events and conferences to share? Please send your information to [email protected] Address: Room 724-27, Zhong Ou Hotel, 55 Nongzhan Beilu, Chaoyang District, 100125 Beijing, PR China Website: www.dcz-china.org DCZ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dcz-china/ The Sino-German Agricultural Centre (DCZ) (project no.: CHN 18-01) is supported with funds from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) via GFA Consulting Group GmbH and implemented by IAK Agrar Consulting GmbH as leading company in a consortium with Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).

Photo Credits

Back Cover (from left to right): Peggy Günther (PG) www.freepik.com (FP) Wikimedia Commons (WM) First row: FP (user6835987), FP (blanscape)

Second row: PG, FP (jcomp), FP (rafodessa), FP (torwaiphoto) Third row: FP (pompixs), PG, PG

Fourth row: PG, FP (n_u_t), PG Fifth row: WM (werktuigendagen), FP (tsekhmister) Sixth row: FP (bugphai), PG, FP (polubiatka) Seventh row: FP (mailsonpignata), FP (rafapress), FP (user6924197), FP (chiradech), WM (Stadtwerke Energie Jena Poessneck)