On 17 and 18 October, CSAM attended the Sino-German Agricultural Young Champions Forum which was held in Nanjing, China. The Forum was co-organized by the Center of International Cooperation Service (CICOS) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China (MARA) and the German Agricultural Society (DLG).  

Mr. Li Jinxiang, Chief Veterinary Officer from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs delivered the keynote speech in the opening ceremony. Representatives from Chinese and German agricultural enterprises and research institutes in related areas, participant representatives of the Sino-German Exchange Programme for Young Experts, and World Food Programme China Office also attended the Forum.

Marco Silvestri, Programme Officer of CSAM attended the opening ceremony and joined the discussion on Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Machinery, chaired by the Department of Agricultural Mechanization of MARA in the afternoon session. Young stakeholders shared their work and views for rural revitalization and the modernization of the agriculture sector through machinery, to promote efficiency and enhance productivity. Notably for CSAM, which engages with the OCED Sub-Working Group on Robots/Autonomous Machines since its establishment, the discussion touched on the applications of ICT technology for agricultural robots, and the standards and regulations related to them. Youth engagement has always been a priority in CSAM’s mandate and the Forum was an opportunity to hear the ideas and perspectives of young stakeholders. CSAM’s commitment to youth development and engagement in agriculture has led to the sponsorships of teams from the Asia-Pacific region participating in the annual China Agricultural Robot Competition, among other initiatives.