Vice Minister Zhang Taolin meets USDA Under Secretaries
DATE:2014-06-17 SOURCE:Information Office, MOA
Visiting Vice Minister Zhang Taolin met with Michael T. Scuse, Ms. Cathie Woteki and Mr. Robert Bonnie, Under Secretaries of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington D.C. on June 13, 2014 respectively. The two sides exchanged views on strengthening China-US agricultural cooperation. Both sides also discussed the update of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on bilateral agricultural cooperation.
At these meetings, Zhang listened to detailed presentations on the 2014 U.S. Farm Bill, and briefings on the organizational structure and operation of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the regulatory system of U.S. agricultural research programs and fund management, agricultural resource conservation as well as agricultural finance and insurance.
After the presentations and briefings, Zhang stated that China and U.S. keeps good momentum in agricultural cooperation, indicating that such cooperation is in the interests of the enterprises and the peoples of both countries. This partnership produces mutual benefits and win-win outcomes. As long as MOA and USDA work actively with each other, China-US agricultural cooperation will have a promising future.
The U.S. side agreed with Zhang on his comments. As for the MOU update, since both sides had reached a consensus on the principles and priorities, the U.S. side hoped that the two sides would step up specific actions at working level to work on details and finalize it at an early date.
Moreover, the U.S. side wished to strengthen cooperation with China in agricultural trade, data sharing and climate change mitigation to contribute to the well-being of the two peoples and global food security.