The International Symposium on One Belt and One Road (OBOR) Plant Protection International Consortium (OBOR-PPIC) and Key Collaboration Programme Development convened in Changchun, Jilin province, from Sept 10 to 12.

The International Symposium on One Belt and One Road (OBOR) Plant Protection International Consortium (OBOR-PPIC) and Key Collaboration Programme Development kicks off in Changchun, Jilin province on Sept 10. [Photo/ejilin.gov.cn]

The Symposium had four parts: plenary reports, OBOR country reports, successful plant protection case-study reports and group discussions.

Six experts in plant protection and agriculture from OBOR countries made plenary reports. Fourteen delegates introduced agricultural development and plant protection needs in each country, and six shared successful experiences from different organizations such as nonprofits and research institutions. The group discussions focused on the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and the ‘21st-Century Maritime Silk Road’.

When President Xi Jinping visited Central and Southeast Asia in September and October 2013, he raised the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. The Belt and Road run through Asia, Europe and Africa, connecting the vibrant East Asia economic circle at one end and developed European economic circle at the other, encompassing countries with huge potential for development.

More than 65 countries stand along the Belt and Road with 4.4 billion people, 63 percent of the world’s total. These countries produced outputs of $ 21 trillion and their exported goods and services accounted for 23.9 percent of the world total.

The Initiative can help promote economic prosperity along the Belt and Road and strengthen exchanges and mutual understanding among different civilizations. It also offers mutual benefits in agricultural technology.

The symposium is an opportunity to strengthen collaboration in agriculture and supports the Initiative in terms of green and sustainable agricultural development and safe international trade.

The unanimous agreement on the OBOR-PPIC Changchun Declaration and the signing of OBOR agricultural scientific collaborative bilateral/multilateral agreements during the symposium will encourage more collaboration in the future.

In the meanwhile, a ‘sharing, co-construction and co-consulting’ mechanism for control of cross-regional pests should be established. In addition, the OBOR-PPIC will provide scientific support and services for OBOR Key International Collaboration Programme Development Plan.

Organized by the China Society of Plant Protection (CSPP), themed as ‘OBOR green and sustainable agriculture, food security, biological and ecological safety’, the symposium aims to establish OBOR-PPIC and to develop a Key International Collaboration Programme on Full-chain Green Plant Protection Technology. Eventually, it will strengthen international exchanges, safeguard green trade and promote agriculture.