Chinese-Norwegian joint symposium on soil and environmental research and sustainable agriculture

Internationalization is one of the main strategic priorities in Bioforsk. China is one of the countries Bioforsk has invested great efforts and considerable progress has been made in recent years. Our contacts go to organizations both at central level (C AAS- Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science) and at the regional level. Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China is among the most important agricultural regions in China, and HAAS (Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Science) is a major player in ag ricultural research and development related issues in China. HAAS and Bioforsk have established contact, and there is also a request from HAAS to formalize this through a bilateral center on agriculture, climate and environment (a signed letter from the p resident of HAAS to the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing is attached). This request is primarily related to an initiative by HAAS and Bioforsk to organize a seminar, Chinese-Norwegian joint symposium on soil and environmental research and sustainable Agri culture, in Harbin, China in April 11-14, 2011. The symposium will focus on the environmental issues which are highly relevant to both Norway and China. The symposium is an important forum for exchanging knowledge and experiences, and for identifying fu ture research topics of common interest. This arrangement will thus also be an important platform for the establishment of long-term technical cooperation and strengthening of the Norwegian-Chinese relations in research and development. In connection with the symposium, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bioforsk and HAAS on environmental research which is related to the sustainable agricultural development will be signed. The symposium and the MoU are of significance for Bioforsk-China collabora tion.