SCO Secretary-General meets with a delegation from Chinese Shaanxi province’s Yangling Demonstration Zone

On 3 July 2019, a meeting between SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov and the delegation from Chinese Shaanxi province's Yangling Demonstration Zone headed by Chen Yaping, Deputy Director-General of the Demonstration Zone's Administration Committee, was held at the SCO Secretariat.

The SCO Secretary-General stated that the SCO member states attached great importance to cooperation in agriculture and food security within the framework of the Organisation. It was pointed out that during the SCO Summit held in Bishkek in June 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping had expressed the Chinese side's readiness to establish a demonstration zone for exchanging agricultural products and technology and training SCO personnel in this sphere.

"In this regard, we believe that the potential of the Yangling Agricultural Hi-tech Industries Demonstration Zone will contribute to the implementation of the initiative advanced by the Chinese leadership and the agreements on agriculture reached in the SCO region in general," Mr Norov said.

In turn, Chen Yaping expanded on the possibilities of the Yangling Demonstration Zone and its readiness for the implementation of future joint SCO projects in the context of decisions and initiatives put forward by the leaders of the SCO member states during the Organisation's Summit in Bishkek.

Mr Yaping also extended an invitation to the Secretary-General to participate in the 26th China (Yangling) Agricultural Hi-Tech Fair held on 22-27 October 2019, and expressed his willingness to organise a roundtable discussion to address the development of the SCO member states' cooperation in agriculture, as part of this fair.

During the meeting, the officials also discussed the possibilities and prospects for Yangling's mutually beneficial cooperation with the SCO, including the issues of exchanging, training and retraining experts from the SCO member states in the Shaanxi province, as well as organising specialised training sessions and seminars.