Dutch expert wins 2013 Chinese "Friendship Award"
DATE:2013-10-12 SOURCE:Development Center for Science and Technology, MOA
Recommended by MOA, Prof. Arnold Jan Piet van Wijk, a Dutch expert on new plant variety protection, won the 2013 "Friendship Award" of the Chinese government.
He was awarded by Vice Premier Ma Kai in Beijing on Sept.29, 2013.
In addition, Premier Li Keqiang, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and Vice Premier Ma Kai met with the winners of the 2013 "Friendship Award"and their families at the China''s National Day reception on Sept.30.
As a senior expert and project director of the Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture, Prof. Arnold Jan Piet van Wijk is mainly in charge of new variety testing and management for flowers and field crops. Known for his expertise on plant genetics and forage breeding, he has abundant experience in the field of variety identification and protection.
With the support of Department of International Cooperation of MOA, Development Center for Science and Technology of MOA and the Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture jointly conducted two programs on new plant variety protection from 2007 to 2011.
Under the above programs, Prof. Arnold Jan Piet van Wijk visited China for 16 times and delivered as many as 450 hours of technical training for over 400 persons/times of Chinese staff, among which 60 persons/times went to the Netherlands for advanced study on variety identification.
For protecting plant varieties in China, Pro. ArnoldJan Piet van Wijk introduced well-established testing guidelines and technical norms for potato and 20 more other crops, and helped China to set up its database for identified plant varieties and the office system for variety examination & approval. He also supervised and conducted a comparative research on the variety protection systems of China, the Netherlands and EU, after which the working procedures were improved and the efficiency was uplifted. In addition, he also facilitated the introduction of more than 100 items of quality flower germplasm from the Netherlands as standard samples in testing operation.
Pro. Arnold Jan Piet van Wijk has done an excellent work to improve the comprehensive system, testing technologies and innovative breeding practices of new plant variety protection in China. During his stay in China, he also built a profound friendship with his Chinese colleagues.
The "Friendship Award" is the highest honor conferred by the Chinese government to foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China''s modernization drive.
Since 1991, a total of 1,299 foreign experts from 67 countries and territories have received the award.
The 50 winners of this year came from 20 countries, and Pro. Arnold Jan Piet van Wijk is the first Dutch national getting the honor so far.