On April 25, 2025, a delegation from the World Food Programme visited the School of Public Affairs at Zhejiang University. The two sides engaged in in-depth exchanges on topics such as social governance, poverty reduction practices, and talent cultivation.
Professor Mao Rui, the director of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Management at the School of Public Affairs, and Shi Xinjie, a researcher under the "Hundred Talents Program", along with Du Jinpei, the secretary of the Youth League Committee of the School, warmly received the delegation and accompanied them on a visit to the "Public and Common" Zhejiang University Discipline-based Ideological and Political Education Demonstration Base. The delegation gained an in-depth understanding of the school's development history, achievements in discipline construction, and innovative measures in student cultivation.
Subsequently, the delegation held a discussion with the college's teachers on China's agricultural development and rural transformation experiences. Professor Mao Rui first introduced the internationalization achievements of the agricultural economics discipline in recent years and the development of the Global Research Network on Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems Transformation (GreNAST). Simon Clements, Deputy Director of the China Office of the United Nations World Food Programme, expressed the hope of further expanding cooperation with the School of Public Administration. Mandefro Nigussie Woldemariam, Executive Director of the Agricultural Transformation Institute of the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, emphasized the need to draw on China's rural development experience to formulate localized anti-poverty programs. Professors Wei Longbao and Liang Qiao, and Researcher Shi Xinjie from the School of Public Administration respectively shared practical cases on topics such as China's e-commerce, farmers' cooperatives, and the empowerment of small-scale farmers. Both sides also had in-depth exchanges on issues such as the role of the government in anti-poverty efforts, the promotion of e-commerce, and incentives for land transfer, with a lively atmosphere.
The visit and exchange not only provided the delegation with a valuable learning opportunity, but also laid a solid foundation for future collaboration, thereby further promoting international exchanges and cooperation in agricultural development and poverty reduction efforts.
