On the morning of October 9, 2017, 2017 "The Belt and Road Initiative" Advanced Training Class - Sustainable Agriculture and Food Safety in China, sponsored by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and organized by School of Agriculture and Biology of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, was kicked off at SJTU Minhang Campus. There are total 32 trainees from Bulgaria, Russia, Estonia, Malaysia, Belgium, Romania, Thailand, Czech Republic and France (total 9 countries) participating in the training class. Zhen HUANG, Vice President, Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU); Liangjin MO, Division Chief, and Liang GUO, Deputy Chief of Division for International Cooperation and Exchanges; Pei ZHOU, Dean, School of Agriculture & Biology, Hong QI, Secretary of CPC, Qiang GONG, Deputy Secretary of CPC and other lecturers jointly attended the opening ceremony, which was presided by Shengquan CHE, Associate Dean, School of Agriculture & Biology.

Zhen HUANG, Vice President, Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), extended a warm welcome to all trainees participating in the training class, put forward sincere hope on the holding of this training class, with the best wishes to accelerate the multilateral cooperation and communication among governments, colleges & universities and research institutions along "the Belt and Road Initiative" Route.

Jiang LU, Expert of "Thousand Talents Program" of the Organization Department of CPC Central Committee, Chair Professor, Professor of School of Agriculture and Biology delivered a speech on behalf of teachers; Adrian Georgiev, Desk Officer for the People's Republic of China in the International Relations Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry of the Republic of Bulgaria, government expert of Europe Concert & International Relations Council, and Teerawat Maneewat, Plan and Policy Analyst (senior professional), Office of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand, delivered a speech respectively on half of trainees.

This training class will last for 2 weeks. It is well to be reminded that trainees attending this training class are all "celebrities", including government expert of Europe Concert & International Relations Council, Plan and Policy Analyst (senior professional), Office of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand, Officers of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Economists, Professors, Vice Professors and Lecturers from universities, academy of sciences and research institutions. All of them have achieved remarkable performance in agricultural research and management field.
This training course includes 4 sections: Chinese Agricultural Development Strategies, Agricultural Technology and Management, Food Safety and Health, Chinese Culture. Lecturers consist of university professors, government experts and enterprise management experts. A course themed "The Agrarian Question in the 21st Century" will be delivered by Professor Max Pfeffer, Executive Dean of College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University. During this course, Professor Max Pfeffer will introduce the great challenges faced by agriculture in 21st century, and responsibilities to be undertaken by universities and research institutions in this area; Jiang LU, SJTU Chair Professor, will deliver a course focusing on opportunities and challenges faced by agriculture in China to discuss the agricultural achievements made in the last 70 years in China and current problems and solutions; Kexuan TANG, Chair Professor of "Cheung Kong Scholar Program", will carry out a joint discussion on "Progress of Plant Biotechnology Research" with trainees; Pei ZHOU, Dean, School of Agriculture & Biology will introduce "Urban Agriculture and Its Sustainable Development Strategy"; Professor Shengquan CHE will make a speech on "Rural Ecological and Cultural Tourism Development in China"; Danfeng HUANG, Professor, School of Agriculture and Biology, will deliver a course concerning "Digital Technology and Mechanization in Horticultural Crop Production"; Chunlei SHI, Professor, School of Agriculture and Biology, will make a speech on "Modern Detection Technologies on Food Safety"; Jin YUE, PhD, Assistant professor, School of Agriculture and Biology, will introduce "Food Processing and Preservation"; Zhiyun ZHANG from College of Humanities will hold a joint discussion on the development and inheritance of Chinese history and culture from the Middle Kingdom to the Chinese Nation from historical and cultural perspective. In addition to university professors, management personnel from enterprises and government organs have also been invited to give lessons. Zhenhua GU, Chairman of Shanghai Food Safety Federation, former Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration, will introduce food safety supervision conditions in China for trainees; Hanqiang ZHANG, Marketing researcher and Vice President of Bright Food (Group) Co., Ltd. introduce development strategies, enterprise culture and the theory of urban agriculture of Bright Food (Group).
In addition to lectures and courses, all trainees will participate in the field trip to Pujiang Green Valley Base, visit to Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Chongming Wetland National Nature Preserve, ecological farm, Bright Food (Group) and discussions, cultural experience activity in Shanghai and other colorful activities. By virtue of the crossed dominance of the agricultural discipline in Shanghai Jiao Tong University, combining professional knowledge and industrial practice to provide high-quality education training for related personnel along "the Belt and Road Initiative" route. In order to respond to the national demands, taking the advantages of Shanghai to build up the international education platform for industry cooperation in agriculture in countries along "the Belt and Road Initiative" route.
The agriculture accounts heavily in 65 countries along "the Belt and Road Initiative" route, with distinctive agricultural resources and characteristics, which means that there is a large room for further development in agricultural cooperation with China. By taking this opportunity, Shanghai Jiao Tong University founded Bulgaria Center for connecting China and Eastern Europe, and SJTU-Hebrew University of Jerusalem Modern Agriculture Joint Research Center for connecting West Asia and North Africa in 2016. Originally, only 20 trainees should be enrolled for this training class. Considering the active registration, total 32 trainees were selected, which represents the high reorganization of countries along "the Belt and Road Initiative" route to "the Belt and Road Initiative" and active demands on cooperating with China in agricultural fields, as well as the striking international reputation and widely international recognition of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in modern agriculture. Based on the existing "Bulgaria Center", "SJTU-Hebrew University of Jerusalem Modern Agriculture Joint Research Center" and other cooperation platforms between China and Eastern Europe, West Asia and North Africa, Shanghai Jiao Tong University plans to found Shanghai Modern Agricultural Training Base for "the Belt and Road Initiative", which can carry out continuous training, expand influence, build mutual trust, promote cooperation, and promote Shanghai to be the bridgehead of modern agricultural cooperation under "the Belt and Road Initiative".

School of Agriculture and Biology
Draft: Jiaoyue LIU
Photography: Siya CHEN