On the morning of April 22 (BJT), the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States, the China Agricultural Association for International Exchange (CAAIE) and the United States Heartland China Association (USHCA) co-hosted the 2022 US-China High Level Agricultural Dialogue, which aimed to enhance mutual trust, remove misunderstanding, broaden consensus and promote agricultural cooperation between Chinese and American provinces and states and the private sectors.
The event had nearly 500 online and offline participants, including the Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang, Vice Governor of Hebei Province Shi Qingshuang, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Sui Pengfei, President of CAAIE Chen Xiaojia, officials from agriculture and rural affairs departments of Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi and other localities, representatives of CAAIE members including China National Agricultural Development Group Co., Ltd., Beidahuang Group Co., Ltd., China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd., Guangdong Agribusiness Group Corporation, Yuan Longping High-tech Agriculture Co., Ltd., Heilongjiang Hengyuan Food Co., Ltd., and other Chinese agribusiness companies, the US Ambassador to China Nickolas Burns, former US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, Associate Administrator of Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture Clay Hamilton, USHCA Chairman and former Governor of Missouri Bob Holden, and representatives of Syngenta Group Co., Ltd and other American agribusinesses. President Emeritus of the World Food Prize Foundation Kenneth M. Quinn moderated the event.
In his keynote speech, Ambassador Qin Gang said that his trip to America's Heartland was a journey of HEART, which aimed to: Help Establish Amicable Relations and Trust, H-E-A-R-T, and Help Enhance Agricultural and Rural Ties, H-E-A-R-T. He believed that China and the US, as major agricultural producers, consumers and traders, should meet challenges together, maintain stable development of agriculture, enhance the resilience of agricultural supply chains, ensure food security domestically, and promote cooperation for international food security. This will certainly be helpful for maintaining world peace, promoting global economic development and social stability, and delivering sustainable development. US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns also delivered a keynote speech. He began by appreciating the efforts made by Ambassador Qin Gang, the President of CAAIE, Chen Xiaojia as well as USHCA to organize the event. Ambassador Burns believed that the China-US relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world and that agriculture trade was of significance to both countries. He hoped China and the US could further advance cooperation in agriculture.
President Chen Xiaojia of CAAIE welcomed friends and guests from China and the US, and hoped that all participants could take the symposium as an opportunity to learn more about each other and advance cooperation. Shi Qingshuang, Vice Governor of Hebei Province, Sui Pengfei, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Clay Hamilton, Associate Administrator of USDA Foreign Agricultural Service also addressed the symposium. Both sides recalled the spirit of strategic agricultural cooperation which defined the US-China High Level Agricultural Dialogue in 2012 when President Xi Jinping spoke in the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in Des Moines, Iowa.
USHCA and CAAIE agreed to start consultations and cooperate on building a long-term platform for collaboration as well as strengthening exchanges and two-way trade in the agricultural sector between China and the US. The two associations signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote necessary coordination of programs and support the annual US–China Agriculture Dialogue. The heads of the two associations highlighted the promising prospect of their cooperation and believed that it would surely contribute to the agricultural and rural development as well as people's well-being in both countries.
During the meeting, representatives from China Agricultural University, Syngenta, the US Soybean Export Council, and Continental Grain introduced from different perspectives the fruits of China-US agricultural cooperation in the past several decades. They agreed that the cooperation had delivered tangible benefits to the Chinese and American people and laid a solid foundation for China-US cooperation and exchanges in other areas.
At the end of the event, a Chinese song sung by a choir consisting of middle school students from Iowa, "Lasting Memories", was played. This special version recorded during the Spring Festival in 2022 demonstrated the long-standing friendship between China and Iowa. The activity concluded with a warm and uplifting ambiance.
Attendees from both countries spoke highly of the dialogue, and expressed heartfelt gratitude to the two associations for their commitment to setting up an agricultural cooperation platform for Chinese and American provinces and states and the private sectors. They hoped this event could take place regularly, such as once or twice every year, so as to provide a high-level channel for substantive dialogues between the private sectors.
Participants in the dialogue also included Wei Zhenglin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation and other officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and representatives of CAAIE members including the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, China Nongtou Group Co., Ltd., CITIC Agriculture Technology Corp., Ltd., Chinese Academy of Agricultural Mechanization Sciences, Beidahuang Rice Industry Group International Rice Industry Beijing Co., CGCOC Group Co., Ltd., Great United Petroleum Holding Co., Ltd., Jiangxi Agricultural Brand Cereals, Oils and Feed Co., Ltd., Sino State Farms Cereals & Oils Co., Ltd., Debont Corp., and Chongqing Zhong Yi Seed Co., Ltd.
(Note: Foreign affairs related work of the China Agricultural Association for International Exchange is now overseen by the Foreign Affairs Office of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality as the association was relieved of administrative functions in 2018.)
