At the invitation of National Agricultural Research Institute of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Academician Zhang Qifa of National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement (NKLCGI), Professor Xiong Lizhong, Director of the Laboratory, and Professor Xie Kabin visited North Korea’s Agricultural Research Institute from Sep. 20 to 25.
Academician Zhang Qifa and his delegation visited North Korea’s National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and its affiliated Longcheng Experimental Plant, Exhibition Hall of Agricultural Research Institute and Salt Resistance Test Base of Rice in Hot Spring County. The delegation also made a special trip to DPRK-China Friendship Tower. During the visit, they made in-depth exchanges with local rice breeders and came to understand the basic situation of rice production, scientific research in North Korea and the problems to be solved. On Sep. 23, Academician Zhang Qifa was invited to give two academic reports on “rice functional genomics” and “green super rice”, introducing NKLCGI’s progress in basic rice research, green super rice breeding and the new concept of “green rice and green aquatic products” to North Korean researchers. On Sep. 24, Professor Xiong Lizhong and Professor Xie Kabin introduced the molecular mechanism of rice stress resistance and rice genetic engineering technology respectively. After the reports, more than 100 researchers and students from North Korea’s Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Kim Il-Sung University and Pyongyang Agricultural University exchanged ideas on crop functional genomics, new breeding techniques, and problems related to salt and disease resistance and fertilizer application in rice production.
Professor Xiong Lizhong introduced the scientific research, talents training, international cooperation and the policy of international students of HZAU and National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement. Dr. Park Won Se,  International Academic Exchange Coordinator of North Korea’s Academy of Agricultural Sciences and RI Tae Sik, Director of Rice Research Institute discussed with Academician Zhang Qifa and Professor Xiong Lizhong on ways to implement cooperation. Finally, they reached a consensus to promote mutual exchanges and cooperation in rice stress resistance, molecular breeding technology and postgraduate education as soon as possible.

Source：http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2019/0929/55162.shtml
Translated by: Jin Xuejiao
Supervised by: Pan Buhan