On August 10, Collaborative Innovation Center for Food Safety and Nutrition, founded by Jiangnan University as the leading role in cooperation with Nanjing Agricultural University and Northeast Agricultural University as well as research institutes and leading enterprises in relative areas, was inaugurated in Nanjing Agricultural University, which boasts the first one of its kind in Jiangsu Province.

Li Xueyong, Governor of Jiangsu Province, and Du Zhanyuan, Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Education, attended the opening ceremony and unveiled the plaque of the center. Among the People who also witnessed the agreement-signing and plaque-unveiling were Cao Weixing, Lieutenant Governor of Jiangsu Province, Li Jiping, Deputy Director of the Office of Food Safety Commission, the State Council, Tao Xiaonian, Vice President of China National Light Industry Council, Wang Yanjue, Director of Science and Technology Division, China’s Ministry of Education, and Wang Liming, Director of Consumer Goods Industry Division, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

University leaders, members of Administration Committee for the center, representatives from related industries, and representatives of teachers and students from Jiangnan University, Nanjing Agricultural University and Northeast Agricultural University, were also at the ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by Shen Jian, Director of Jiangsu Department of Education.

At the ceremony, Zhou Guanghong, the president of Nanjing Agricultural University delivered a welcome speech. Then, Chen Jian, President of Jiangnan University reported the implementation plan of the center. Xu Mei, President of Northeast Agricultural University, and Zhu Yiliang, the President of Yurun Group also gave a speech. What’s more, President of three universities including Jiangnan University, Nanjing Agricultural University, and Northeast Agricultural University, signed a cooperation agreement on constructing an industry research platform on edible oil, meat, dairy products, and alcohol.

Led by Jiangnan University, the Collaborative Innovation Center for Food Safety and Nutrition is jointly constructed by core partners including Northeast Agricultural University and Nanjing Agricultural University, with participation of enterprises such as COFCO, LuHua Group, Bohai Sea Industrial, Yurun Group, Ely Group, Bright Dairy, WanDaShan Dairy, Tsingtao Beer, and Maotai Group. Focusing on the national significant strategic demand for food safety and nutrition, the center will address four integrated but problematic industries, namely oil, meat, dairy and alcohol, as its direction to urgently implement and break through, under the principles on “Meeting the National Urgent needs, Constructing a World First-class Center".

In addition, it will undertake grand applied basic research and general key technology development of industries, improve the actively protecting and tracing tracking system on Food Safety, and achieve the active intervention on food nutrition and health science control. By building a pluralistic, open and dynamic organization running pattern and a collaborative innovation mechanism, it is expected to become a world-class academic, innovation, R&D and industry-pioneering center on food safety and nutrition, making contributions to ensure national food safety and make China an innovation country.

On behalf of the China National Light Industry Council, Vice President Tao Xiaonian, warmly congratulated the inauguration. He hoped that the participating institutions should start from the inauguration, promote the core task of developing creative capability on the integrative power of talents, disciplines and research, give full play to comprehensive, multi-disciplinary and multi-functional advantages of the universities, attract a wide range of social innovative force, and make the positive contributions to the safeguard of national food safety, the ascent of the national food and nutrition, and the building of an innovative country. He added that the National Light Industry Council will make great efforts to support the construction and development of the collaborative innovation center, give full play to its bridging role between the industry-featured universities, enterprises and research institutes. He said it will also provide a certain amount of running funding and the support including preferential policies, technology, and personnel etc., to promote collaborative innovation and synchronous development for various innovative social forces, achieving sustainable, rapid and sound development of China’s light industry.

In his speech, Cao Weixing, Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province, highly appreciated the practical significance of building a center for food safety and nutrition to safeguard the national food safety and promote the innovative development for the food industry. He pointed out that the Jiangsu Provincial Government attaches great importance to science and technology innovative capacity, which means the government regards reviving the province with science, education and human resources as basic strategy for the economic and social development, exerts emphasis on an innovation-driven economic and social development as a core strategy, cultivates new growth points by enhancing the scientific and technological innovations of the universities, and breaks the barriers for innovations.

He also said the government is stepping up efforts to stipulate Jiangsu Province Higher Education collaborative Innovation Plan, in order to cultivate and establish 50 Jiangsu Universities Collaborative Innovation Centers. He required the three universities to blaze the trail, and proactively, responsibly and strenuously construct a world-class academic, R & D and industry-leading base on food safety and nutrition, making new and greater contributions to China’s innovation-driven and innovation-oriented development.

Finally, he promised that the government will give significant support to the center in the form preferential policies, human resources and well-structured organizations to create favorable conditions for the reform and development of the Collaborative Innovation Center. (C.Y. and Patrick)

The Agreement-signing and Plaque-unveiling Ceremony

Wu Guilong, Chancellor of Jiangnan University attended the ceremony

Li Xueyong, Governer and Vice Minister of CEM Unveiled the Plague

Enterprise Parteners Signed the Agreement