New International Potato Center facilities in China said to ‘mark new era for root and tuber research in Asia’

The new International Potato Center-China Center for Asia Pacific (CCCAP) facilities were formalized in an official handover ceremony in Yanqing, Beijing last month. The International Potato Center (CIP), based in Peru, and the Chinese government have a long history of cooperation that is fast approaching four decades. CCCAP is the first officially recognized international research institution in China. What started in 1978 as a gift of the hardy CIP-24 potato variety, germplasm well-suited to the needs of Chinese rural farmers, has now grown into a fully-integrated world-class agricultural research center focused on improving roots and tuber production in China and across East Asia and the Pacific. “This handover is a historic moment in a long and fruitful history between CIP and the government of China,” says Dr. Barbara Wells, CIP Director General. During the ceremony, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Qu Dongyu, announced the Chinese government’s generous donation of state-of-the art laboratory equipment valued at almost $3 million. More