China’s State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) renewed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on exchanges of scientists, in Beijing, on June 18, with Zhang Jianguo, administration director, and Andrea Lyon, a vice-minister with the Canadian organization, doing the signing.

Zhang said that China and Canada have seen a boom in exchanges of scientific personnel and cooperation in agriculture since the MoU was signed in 2004 and this is the third and is a testament to their cooperation. He went on to say that SAFEA will make it more convenient for Canadian agronomists to work in China and that he hopes Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian embassy in China can continue to support the exchanges of scientists and increase cooperation at a higher level.

Lyon said they are grateful for SAFEA's efforts in increasing these exchanges and the cooperation and that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada give a lot of attention to cooperating with SAFEA and will continue to encourage Canadian experts to come to China, under this MoU, to boost trade and cultural exchanges as well.

Sun Zhaohua, the deputy director general of SAFEA, Liu Yuhua, general director of SAFEA, and Bruce Archibald, director general of Canada's Food Inspection Agency, attended the signing ceremony along with other officials from both countries.