15 August 2011
On the last day of a major agriculture seminar in China, senior officers from the Department of the Environment signed an agreement that will ensure Jersey’s continuing cooperation with China for many years to come.
The document, which was signed on Friday (12 August) with the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), confirms Jersey’s status as a long-term partner of the Sino-European Agricultural Seminar.
The agreement will provide the governments of China and Jersey with a practical platform for cooperation, allowing for regular contact and collaboration between Jersey’s agricultural and dairy experts and their counterparts in China. This will include a delegation of scientists from China visiting the Island next year to discuss possible areas of cooperation in the dairy and agriculture industries.
Assistant Chief Minister, UK and International Relations, Senator Freddie Cohen, who brokered Jersey’s involvement in the seminar during a States visit to China in June, said: “The Jersey cow and the Island’s rich agricultural heritage are valuable assets, especially to a country like China whose dairy industry is in a period of massive growth. Entering into agreements like these with the world’s second largest economy is a smart move and will ensure a successful future for Jersey’s agriculture industry.”
As well as delivering two well-received speeches during the seminar itself, the delegation of officers from the Department of the Environment had the opportunity to promote Jersey’s agriculture and dairy industries to around 100 agricultural experts from China, Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands. They also met with senior officials at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China’s national agricultural research organisation which employs 10,000 people in 38 research institutes located across 17 provinces.
gov.je