On 24 June 2025, Secretary General H.E. Shi Zhongjun of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) held a meeting with the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) of the Laos to promote agricultural cooperation between Laos and China. The meeting was attended by the Acting Director of NAFRI, heads of relevant departments, and representatives from the Department of Rural Development and Cooperatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment of Laos.

     SG Shi noted that the agricultural cooperation between Laos and China serves as a model for the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Laos Economic Corridor. Through policy coordination, technology demonstration, industrial investment, trade facilitation, and talent training, the both sides have established a comprehensive cooperation framework. At present, based on the important consensus reached by Chinese and ASEAN leaders on food and agricultural cooperation, the ACC is taking multiple measures to enhance smart agriculture collaboration between the two sides. This visit aims to precisely align agricultural development needs, explore potential for cooperation across the whole-process industrial chain and to facilitate more practical outcomes between Chinese localities and Laos in technology transfer, production capacity cooperation, and personnel training, thereby jointly injecting new dynamism to Laos-China agricultural cooperation.

     NAFRI highly commended the ACC’s efforts in advancing ASEAN-China agricultural cooperation, stating that the agricultural delegation led by the ACC to Laos demonstrates its strong commitment to the Laos-China agricultural collaboration. The cooperation between the two sides has already evolved from simple business trade to synergetic integration across the whole industrial chain. It is expected to achieve more results in ensuring regional food security and increasing the incomes of Lao farmers. NAFRI is responsible for promoting agricultural technology innovation and sustainable resource utilization in the Laos through research in crop breeding, forestry management, and agricultural mechanization. He expressed the willingness to leverage the ACC’s platform to enhance exchanges and cooperation with China in talent, technology, agricultural machinery, and other fields, and welcomed more Chinese enterprises to invest in the Laos, supporting agricultural production increase and sustainable development.
     Representatives from NAFRI, the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Zhengzhou Municipal People’s Government, the Zhengzhou Academy of Agricultural Science and Technology, the Henan Agricultural Development Group, Jiangsu University, and related agricultural enterprises exchanged views on specific cooperative projects based on their respective strengths, namely agricultural machinery and irrigation technology, new energy technology, agricultural product trade, storage and logistics, and talent training.


     In the afternoon, the delegation also conducted a field visit to the Laos-China Agricultural Cooperation Demonstration Park.