A meeting to advance the construction of the National Technology Innovation Center for Saline-Alkali Agriculture (NTICSA) was held recently in Dongying city, in East China's Shandong province. Liu Xianwu, vice president of the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, or CAAS, attended and delivered remarks.

The meeting underscored the fact that the CAAS saline-alkali agricultural center is a core pillar that supports the NTICSA. The integration of 10 CAAS innovation teams in it is said to mark a pivotal move to accelerate its tangible development. Their presence is seen as enhancing the CAAS leadership role in organizing and spearheading the NTICSA. Emphasis at the meeting was placed on embracing principles of open cooperation and mutual benefit, fostering joint platform development, resource sharing and collaborative problem-solving. The meeting called for deepening innovative development models and ensuring efficient operations through standardization and institutionalization. The teams involved are expected to fully commit, continuously hone their research focus, strengthen team building — and to advance both technological and industrial innovations. All units were urged to further bolster policy support, project facilitation, talent support and service guarantees. That's to collectively drive the high-level construction and high-quality development of both the national center for saline-alkali agriculture and the CAAS saline-alkali agricultural center — thereby accelerating the establishment of a hub for innovation in the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land.

The meeting was attended by officials from CAAS departments and units, representatives of Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, the Agricultural High-tech Industrial Demonstration Area of the Yellow River Delta — as well as experts, academics and business representatives.