The kickoff meeting for the flagship project of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) was held on Aug 20 in Beijing. The project is being led by Academician Tang Huajun, and CAE's major strategic consulting initiative is formally entitled China's Agricultural Resources Survey and Agricultural Zoning Strategic Research.

The meeting was attended by prominent figures such as CAE Academicians Deng Xiuxin, Wu Kongming, Zhang Jiabao, Chen Wenfu, Zhang Shougong, Wang Qiao — as well as by Ye Yujiang, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). Also present were researcher Ye Xingqing, former director of the rural economic research department at the Development Research Center of the State Council, and researcher Li You from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. More than 50 participants joined the meeting, including representatives from the CAE, the development planning department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and China Agricultural University. There were also representatives from the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning and the Institute of Crop Sciences under the CAAS, along with project leaders and members. 

Researcher Yin Changbin provided an in-depth overview of the project's research objectives, methodology, content, anticipated outcomes, work completed thus far, and future tasks. Subsequently, each project leader presented their reports on topics such as the current status and evaluation of agricultural resources, the zoning of agricultural elements, agricultural production zoning, and strategic policies for agricultural resource zoning. 

The expert advisory group for the project praised its significance and design, noting its alignment with national strategic needs and its forward-thinking approach. They offered constructive feedback on the strategic positioning of the new zoning initiative, guiding principles, key focus areas, methodological innovations, and the synthesis and application of results. Emphasis was placed on clearly defining the "what's new" aspect of this initiative — addressing key challenges, leveraging new technologies, ensuring consistency with existing findings, maintaining a problem-driven and goal-oriented approach, and fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration to achieve high-quality project outcomes. Academician Tang Huajun called on the project team to thoroughly incorporate the experts' suggestions, refine the research plan, enhance the synthesis of results — and advance the project with high quality to produce research outcomes that support national strategic decision-making.