Minister Han Changfu Meets with Finnish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry

Source: MOA Press Office

On 2 Sept., Han Changfu, Minister of Agriculture, met with a Finnish delegation led by Ms Sirkka-Liisa Anttila, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. The two sides exchanged views on the issues of food production policies and food security, agricultural mechanization and agricultural product quality and safety.

Han Changfu said that the frequent mutual visits of the senior agricultural officials of the two countries in recent years had increased the mutual understanding and trust and laid a solid foundation for the bilateral agricultural cooperation. Especially since the ministries of agriculture of the two countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Agricultural Cooperation in 2005, the two sides developed collaboration in many fields and achieved remarkable results. He noted that the Chinese side attached importance to development of the agricultural cooperation with Finland, which enjoyed good basis and great potential. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture was ready to make joint efforts with the Finnish counterpart for better agricultural cooperation. He put forward two suggestions for this purpose. First, establish a working mechanism to exchange information on agriculture, identify priority areas and specific projects for the cooperation, formulate cooperation plans and thus promote pragmatic development of such cooperation. Second, carry out exchange and cooperation in the fields of monitoring and early warning on agricultural product safety, standard formulation, quality certification and traceability, and market access.

Ms. Anttila supported Minister Han s suggestions and considered that the agricultural cooperation between Finland and China had a huge potential. She hoped that the two sides could intensify the agricultural exchange and cooperation and jointly facilitate development of the bilateral agricultural trade.

(Date: 08:24 03 Sept. 2010)