Minister Han Changfu met with his Finnish counterpart Mr. Jari Koskinen, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in Beijing on Feb. 24th, 2014. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on furthering China-Finland agricultural cooperation.
During the meeting, Minister Han expressed positive comments on bilateral agricultural cooperation. He emphasized that China and Finland are highly complementary to each other in agriculture, and enjoy great potential for further cooperation. Hence, it is in the interest of both sides to enhance agricultural cooperation.
Minister Han then put forward the following suggestions to further cooperation: (1) The 2nd Agricultural Working Group Meeting shall be convened this year to map out future agricultural cooperation between the two countries, and work out implementation plans. (2) A China-Finland Demonstration Farm shall be established in China. The Farm shall serve as a platform to display Finnish modern agro-technologies and facilities to further bilateral agricultural cooperation. (3) The two sides shall boost in-depth cooperation on quality and safety of agro-products as well as biomass energy.
Koskinen fully agreed with Minister Han's suggestions. He expressed his wish to intensify cooperation on improving agricultural productivity and quality and safety of agro-products. He pledged to make China-Finland Demonstration Farm a platform for bilateral agricultural development and innovation, and to advance common development through down-to-earth cooperation.
MOA Chief Agronomist Sun Zhonghua also attended the meeting.