China-US to deepen agriculture cooperation, food security

China and the US will seek to deepen bilateral cooperation in the agriculture sector, food security, sustainable development during a crucial visit of Vice-President Xi Jinping to Washington, a top Chinese official today said.

As Xi prepares for an official US visit from February 13 to 17, Agriculture Minister Han Changfu said both countries will push forward cooperation in the areas of food security, sustainable development, agricultural trade and science and technology, creating opportunities for cooperation between agricultural enterprises and promoting joint research on agriculture.

The visit of Xi, who is expected to take over as president next year after the retirement of incumbent Hu Jintao, is described as an imaging building trip.

US with its advanced agricultural science, technology and research made headway into such fields as seed breeding and production, and has world-class multinational companies in agriculture, while China has broad market demands as well as leading technologies in food production, biomass energy and agricultural produce processing, he was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

China and the US have conducted effective cooperation in crop plantation, stock raising, fishery, agricultural research and education, agricultural product processing and circulation, Han said in an interview to Xinhua.

The two nations have launched more than 500 science and technology exchange programmes since they established the working group on agricultural science and technology cooperation in 1980, with around 3,000 experts involved.