Minister Han Changfu meets his Canadian counterpart
DATE:2014-09-23 SOURCE:MOA
Minister Han Changfu met with Mr. Gerry Ritz, Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food, in Beijing on September 18, 2014. Minister Ritz was visiting China for the 3rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting on Food Security.
Minister Han noted that the mechanism of bilateral agricultural cooperation is well functioning. Both China and Canada have witnessed fruitful results of S&T communication and collaboration, steady growth of agricultural trade and a sound development momentum of agricultural partnership. In order to deepen China-Canada agricultural cooperation, Minister Han put forward a four-point proposal: first, to implement cooperative programs under the China-Canada Joint Committee on Agriculture and discuss the signing of the Action Plan on China-Canada Agricultural Cooperation; second, to strengthen agricultural S&T communication and cooperation and enhance technological innovation capacity of both countries; third, to boost bilateral collaboration in agricultural trade and investment; and fourth, to promote cooperation in agriculture and food security under the framework of APEC.
Minister Ritz spoke highly of the development of China-Canada agricultural ties, and underlined that Canada has always attached great importance to agricultural communication and cooperation with China. He agreed with Minister Han on the above proposal, and expressed that the Canadian side is keen to promote cooperation with China in various fields like food security, agricultural S&T, sustainable agricultural development, and so on. He hoped that the Action Plan could be signed during Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper''s visit to China this November.
Mr. Bi Meijia, Chief Economist and Director-General of the General Office of MOA, also attended the meeting.