A delegation headed by Prof. Yongxiang Lu, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) visited Australia to foster Sino-Australia scientific co-operation and attended the 7th Annual China-Australia Symposium on “Agriculture and food security relating to health” (Nov. 14-16, 2010, Barrosa Valley, Adelaide) sponsored jointly by the Department of Innovation Industry, Science and Research of Australia, Australia Academy of Science, Australia Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and CAS. As representatives of the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB), Dr. Weicai Yang, Dr. Xiaofeng Cao, Dr. Hongqing Ling, Dr. Daowen Wang, and Dr. Yonghui Yang attended the joint symposium and visited the functional genomic facilities at the Waite campus, the University of Adelaide.

On Nov. 15, 2010, witnessed by President Lu, Dr. Tieniu Tan (Secretary-General of CAS), Dr. Yonglong Lu (Director General, Bureau of International Co-operation, CAS) and Prof. James McWha (Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide), Dr. Weicai Yang and Dr. Mike Brooks (Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President) signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between IGDB and the University of Adelaide. Under the MOU, the two institutions will cooperate in several areas, including exchanges of academic staff and scientific information, joint research, as well as commercial development of intellectual properties resulting from the co-operative program. This collaboration will benefit both research and teaching activities between IGDB and the University of Adelaide, and further promotes the internationalization of both institutions.