Opening remarks
On June 14, 2019, President Xi Jinping attended the 19th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Bishkek, and proposed that "China is willing to set up a demonstration base for agricultural technology exchange and training of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Shaanxi Province to strengthen cooperation with countries in the region in the field of modern agriculture". Over the past five years, with the strong support and promotion of the relevant ministries and commissions of the state, the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, the Yangling Demonstration Zone has adhered to the integration of districts and schools and built a high-level SCO agricultural base. Up to now, the construction of the base has achieved breakthroughs from "China Initiative" to "Major Sharing Platform", from "Vision Planning" to "Practical Results", and a new blueprint for international agricultural cooperation "based on China, radiating to the SCO, linking the surrounding areas, and facing the world" has been slowly unfolded in the land of Agricultural Science City. In order to display the achievements of the construction of the SCO Agricultural Base in the past five years from all angles and in an in-depth manner, from now on, Yangling Agricultural Media Group has launched a special column entitled "The Fifth Anniversary of the Construction of the SCO Agricultural Base", using newspapers, television, radio, new media and other platforms to report the good stories and voices of the SCO member states of "exchanges, mutual learning and win-win cooperation". Stay tuned.
Walk into the SCO agricultural base
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training Demonstration Base (hereinafter referred to as the SCO Agricultural Training Base) is located in Yangling, Shaanxi Province, a world-renowned agricultural science city. Do you know what the SCO is? What are the functions of the SCO agricultural base? After five years of development, what achievements have been made and what contributions have been made? Today, let's walk into Yangling, walk into the SCO agricultural base, and learn about it!
What is the SCO?
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organization established on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China, by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. Its predecessor was the "Shanghai Five" mechanism.
The objectives of the SCO are: to strengthen mutual trust and good-neighbourliness among the member states; Encourage effective cooperation among member countries in the fields of politics, economy and trade, science and technology, culture, education, energy, transportation, tourism, environmental protection and other fields; work together to maintain and safeguard regional peace, security and stability; Promote the establishment of a democratic, just, and rational new international political and economic order.
What is the origin of the SCO agricultural base?
On June 14, 2019, at the 19th Council of Heads of State of the SCO Member States in Bishkek, President Xi Jinping proposed that "China is willing to set up a demonstration base for agricultural technology exchange and training of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Shaanxi Province and strengthen cooperation with countries in the region in the field of modern agriculture". On 21 October 2020, the Fifth Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the SCO Member States adopted the framework for the development of the SCO agricultural base and signed the minutes of the meeting, which turned the development of the SCO agricultural base from a unilateral initiative into a collective action. On October 22, 2020, the SCO Agricultural Base was officially unveiled in Yangling.
What is the functional orientation of the SCO agricultural base?
The SCO Agricultural Base is the first platform for consultation, joint construction and sharing in the field of agriculture in the SCO, and undertakes the mission of serving the coordinated development of agriculture among the SCO countries and regions.
At present, in accordance with the "Shanghai Spirit" of "mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations, and seeking joint development", and based on the agricultural resource endowment, economic and social development foundation and future agricultural development direction of the SCO countries, the construction of the SCO Agricultural Base has put forward the construction idea of "one base with multiple platforms, one center with multiple parks, and one hospital with multiple institutes" in accordance with the principles of government-led, multi-party linkage, demand-oriented, key-focused, openness-oriented, co-construction and sharing, and in accordance with the core function positioning of "exchange, training and demonstration". The main functions of the four aspects of "agricultural technology exchange and cooperation", "agricultural technology education and training", "agricultural technology demonstration and promotion" and "agricultural trade and production capacity cooperation" have been preliminarily determined, and all work has been carried out in an orderly manner.
What breakthroughs have been made at the SCO agricultural base in the past five years?
Over the past five years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Science and Technology and other national ministries and commissions have responded positively and strongly supported, the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government have planned and strongly promoted, the Yangling Demonstration Zone has bravely undertaken the mission and paid close attention to implementation, the integration of districts and schools has been promoted, the construction of the SCO agricultural base has been accelerated, and the efficiency of the platform has been continuously released. More than 50 international exchange activities, including the SCO Roundtable on Modern Agricultural Development, the SCO Forum on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development, the Global Forum on Soil Health, and the First China-Central Asia Agriculture Ministers' Meeting, have been successfully held, and more than 50 high-level officials from the SCO countries and more than 500 guests and representatives have come to Yangling to attend the activities and carry out exchanges and cooperation. More than 2,000 agricultural officials and technicians went to Yangling to study, and more than 30,000 people received training online through the Internet. A total of more than 300 agricultural poverty alleviation talents have been trained, more than 300 international students have been trained, and more than 200 vocational education students have been jointly trained. It has built 10 agricultural science and technology parks and 20 training bases in China-Ukraine, China-Kazakhstan and China-Kyrgyzstan, integrated demonstration of more than 110 excellent crop varieties and cultivation technologies, promoted the application of more than 100 agricultural science and technology in SCO countries, and promoted overseas with an area of more than 30 million mu. It has successfully held a number of exhibitions and activities such as Yangling Agricultural High Meeting, Shanghai Cooperation Agricultural Expo, and "Belt and Road" Shaanxi Characteristic Commodities Exhibition, and promoted more than 2,000 kinds of special agricultural products such as Shaanxi apples and tea industry to be exported to various countries on the China-Europe train. The economic and trade exchanges between countries are getting closer and closer, and the cumulative sales of Yangling's cross-border goods have exceeded 500 million yuan.
What's next for the SCO's agricultural base?
In the future, the base will continue to uphold the "Shanghai Spirit", based on the agricultural resource endowment of the SCO countries and the future direction of agricultural development, and actively explore new models and mechanisms for exchanges, training, demonstration, trade and production capacity cooperation in the agricultural field, so as to make new and greater contributions to Shaanxi's construction of an inland reform and opening up highland and an important window for the country's agricultural opening up.
Poster design: Zhang Zikang