Growth center

Under the innovative framework of the Sino-German Agricultural Centre, agricultural cooperation between the two countries has seen rapid growth and produced many beneficial outcomes

China and Germany, as all-round strategic partners, have always maintained a healthy momentum in bilateral relations. Agricultural cooperation has been a key part of bilateral ties. In recent years, under the innovative framework of the Sino-German Agricultural Centre, their agricultural cooperation has seen rapid growth and spawned fruitful outcomes, becoming a model for agricultural cooperation between China and other European nations.

Based on consensuses reached between leaders from both sides, in 2015 the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs) and the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture jointly set up the Sino-German Agricultural Centre, with the aim of building a unified platform for agricultural cooperation between the two countries and providing necessary support and resources for bilateral pragmatic cooperation in various areas.

The Sino-German Agricultural Centre represents a major innovation in bilateral agricultural cooperation, and has proved to be highly effective in promoting bilateral agricultural policy dialogue, exchange between businesses, the development of platforms for science and research collaboration and the implementation of demonstration programs.

The Sino-German Agricultural Policy Dialogue sheds light on policy rationale and design of policy instruments to facilitate the framing of agricultural and rural development policies. Thanks to mutual visits and consultations, expert groups from both countries have conducted in-depth exchanges in ecological agriculture, environmentally friendly animal husbandry and smart agriculture. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc worldwide, the two sides have kept up their momentum by maintaining close exchanges and active engagement via videoconferences.

The Agri-Food Business Dialogue has been a main driver of Sino-German agricultural cooperation, being an open platform for closer exchanges. It has ensured the active participation of German companies such as Bayer, Syngenta and BASF and national pilot zones in China such as the Yangling Agricultural High-Tech Industries Demonstration Zone in Shaanxi province and Sino-German Eco-park in Qingdao, Shandong province. Over 100 Chinese and German enterprises have used the platform for partnering, networking and promotion.

The cooperation platform on science and research, focusing on cutting-edge areas of modern agricultural technology, has served as a pillar for further coordination and exchanges in science and research. Since its establishment, the center has enabled closer and more effective interaction and exchanges in areas such as control of the spotted wing Drosophila (a major pest species), treatment of pollutants from animal husbandry and poultry, digital agriculture and strengthening food security.

The demonstration programs, which have brought together leading equipment, technologies and management in the agricultural sector, have shown the way for the growth of modern agriculture through demonstration and training.

The Sino-German Crop Production and Agro-technology Demonstration Park, located in the Huanghai State Farm in Jiangsu province, has achieved preliminary results in the piloting of sustainable crop production practices. Compared to traditional local practice, the new practice has reduced the use of fertilizers by 34.1 percent, seeds by 45.8 percent, pesticide by 21.5 percent, water by 63 percent and energy consumption by 15.8 percent.

In 2019, employing the direct drilling technique, the park's wheat yield reached 10,320 kilograms per hectare, and rice yield 15,883.5 kg per hectare－a new record for machine-planted rice in the province. The park has hosted 72 special training sessions, including those in virtual forms, benefiting over 20,000 agricultural practitioners.

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee made it clear that China will embark on a new development phase to comprehensively build a modern socialist country and expedite steps to foster a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other.

Going forward, China's efforts to foster this new development paradigm will produce a wide range of opportunities, which will be taken to further explore the efficiency of Sino-German bilateral cooperation in areas of food and agriculture. The focus will be in these three areas:

First, the countries will further deepen mutual learning and exchanges on rural development. China is pushing forward rural revitalization across the board and accelerating steps to modernize its agriculture and rural areas. Germany, meanwhile, has taken the lead globally in ecological, smart agriculture and rural environmental management, and many of its practices are worth learning. China will draw on the experiences of Germany in its fostering of high-quality agriculture and revitalization of rural areas.

Second, the two sides will make all-out efforts to develop the Sino-German Agricultural Centre. The center is the main platform for agricultural cooperation and carries out a raft of high-quality cooperation programs in key areas including smart agriculture, prevention and control of plant and animal pathogens, protection of the rural environment, rural development and rural governance and training modern agricultural personnel.

Third, the countries will enhance collaborative innovation. They will push forward the demonstration programs for their agricultural cooperation and collaboratively bring innovation in areas such as balancing costs, production and the environment and the sustainable development of agriculture. The programs aim to explore high-quality green development models and show examples, to contribute to across-the-board rural revitalization and modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

The authors are from the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China. The authors contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.