2010 China Trade Mission

The morning of our last full day in Hangzhou was focused on the important role research and educational facilities play in agriculture in China and back home.

In China each province has its own academy of agricultural sciences, each with its own area of focus. Our day began with a visit to Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences (ZAAS).  ZAAS is a non-profit ag research institution that will celebrate its 100th year birthday in 2011.

After welcome remarks by Dr. Meng, deputy director of ZAAS, and Lt. Governor Skillman, we listened to a briefing given by a number of ZAAS research professors and held a discussion about opportunities for partnerships between ZAAS and Indiana-based facilities.

With a faculty of approximately 1,035, ZAAS has 15 “institutes,” ranging from animal husbandry and vet sciences to food processing and sub-tropical crops.  A wide-ranging network of national and provincial research labs have enabled ZAAS to establish joint research centers with institutions in the UK, the U.S., the EURO, Russia, Ukraine and with the Chinese Academy of Science.

While ZAAS partners with a number of higher education institutions in the U.S., (i.e. Michigan State and U.C. Davis) it does not have a relationship with any university in Indiana.

Our delegation turned to our own Dr. Chuck Hibberd, associate dean of agriculture and director of extension at Purdue University, who engaged in a very informative dialogue with our ZAAS hosts.  Chuck described Purdue’s College of Agriculture and its focus on food science and safety, and quality food storage and food processing.  Purdue and ZAAS have similar research goals. He said he was very interested in an opportunity to build a partnership between ZAAS and Purdue, concluding by declaring it a “good fit.”  (Thanks for making me proud to be a  Boilermaker, Chuck!)

With a huge population in China, soon approaching 1.4 billion, and throughout the Zheijang Province, ZAAS is working to assist rural farmers in 23 communities.  These demonstration projects will provide better skills to educate farmers about better crop yields in rural areas.

Our ZAAS hosts took us on a tour of one of their research labs where we saw seed production in glass vessels, allowing for increased yields and development of better quality and disease-resistant plants.

As our meeting come to a close, it was evident there is great potential for delegates representing Purdue, hardwoods, seed marketing and production, and livestock industries to build on the dialogue and relationships established by Lt. Governor Skillman,  her great staff and the delegation during the morning’s visit to ZAAS.

We continued our focus on research and education with a meeting and tour of Zhejiang University (ZU), one of China’s great higher ed schools and known for its strong ag department.  We were pleased to hear ZU has established relationships with Purdue, IU and Valparaiso, and also delighted to hear they would like to have more exchange with the above colleges’ faculty and staff with respect to research projects.

After lunch (more on food in a future blog) the delegation split into two groups, one heading to Hangzhou NF United Meat, the largest meat processor in Zhejiang, and the other, of which I was a part, visited Transfar.  The Lt. Governor is pictured with a Transfar representative above.

Transfar is a non-governmental, non-state owned bio-tech ag company that specializes in flower and seed production.  It is located in a high tech industrial park and is ranked 379 of the top 500 enterprises in China.

The company has five main business platforms; including chemical production and service areas in logistics.

Transfar is interested in having Indiana companies partner in future projects.

As we reunited with our fellow delegates before dinner, we learned the trip to the meat packing plant had been very promising, as Hangzhou officials are pursuing opportunities to increase beef and pork imports.

All in all it was a very productive business day. More about our Friends of Indiana Reception and of an important agreement signed by Lt. Governor Skillman in the next post.