章均赛：为什么中加农业合作如此重要？（中英对照）

为什么中加农业合作如此重要？<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Why is the China-Canada Agricultural Cooperation Important?

中国驻加拿大大使章均赛

H.E. Mr. Zhang Junsai, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Canada

中国人常说，“民以食为天”、“食为政先”。从古至今，农业都是国民经济的基础。尤其是对于一个有13亿人口的发展中国家，农业的重要性再怎么强调也不为过。过去60多年来，特别是改革开放以后，中国政府大力发展农业和农村经济，粮食总产量由1.1亿万吨跃升至5.7亿万吨，农村经济结构不断优化，农业收入稳步提高，农村面貌明显改善。

As one Chinese old saying goes, food is the paramount need for people. Agriculture has always been regarded the very basis for China’s economy, the importance of which can never been over emphasized for a nation with over 1.3 billion population to feed. For the past six decades, especially since the reform and opening up policy adopted some thirty years ago, the Chinese Government has been making agriculture first among their priorities, and the achievements are recognized around the world: the gross output of grain has grown five folds from 1.1 trillion tons to 5.7 trillion tons per year, the structure of rural economy being constantly optimized and the increase of the income of rural families being steady.

　　发展农业的过程中，中国政府高度重视利用国际市场和资源，并视拥有高质量农产品、先进农业技术和丰富农业资源的加拿大为重要合作伙伴。上世纪60年代初，加拿大与中国在尚未建交的情况下开展小麦贸易，缓解了中国当时严重的粮荒，向中国人民提供了宝贵支持。小麦贸易使两国增进了相互了解，也使此后中加建交更为顺畅。从这个角度讲，中加农业合作对中加关系起到过特殊的破冰作用。1971年中加建交后，两国农业合作继续顺利发展。目前中国已成为加拿大第四大农产品进口和出口市场，双方农业科技合作硕果累累，投资合作起步良好。今年2月哈珀总理访华期间，双方在加牛肉产品输华、植物检验检疫、农业科技合作等方面又取得了新的可喜成果。

The Chinese Government always attaches great importance to the utilization of international markets and resources in developing the country’s own primary industry, and it regards Canada, renowned for its high quality agricultural produce, advanced agro-technology and rich resources, a most important partner for cooperation. The wheat trade between Canada and China started in the sixties of last century prior to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations, which played a significant role in easing the food scarcity in China, a great help to the Chinese people. The wheat trade served as also an ice breaker for China-Canada relations in that it enhanced the mutual understanding and laid the foundation for the establishment of full diplomatic relations in 1971. Now, China is Canada’s fourth largest export and import market, with encouraging results recorded in agricultural technical cooperation and mutual investments. The visit by the Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper in February this year also witnessed new progress achieved in areas like export of Canadian beef products to China, quarantine and agricultural technical cooperation.

展望未来，中加农业合作的重要性将进一步日益凸显，发展潜力巨大。

Looking into the future, the agricultural cooperation between the two countries knows no boundary.

　　富裕起来的中国人民对优质农产品的需求水涨船高，加拿大品种繁多的好产品能够满足他们的需要。比如，近年来随着中国啤酒消费量上升，加拿大向中国出售的啤酒大麦大量增加，很多名牌啤酒都使用加拿大啤酒大麦。此外，还有越来越多的企业用产自加拿大的优质小麦制作面包和面点。2010年加拿大仅双低油菜籽就（Canola）向中国出口了约200万吨，总价值16亿加元。中国对加拿大优质农产品的旺盛需求对加农业发展可谓福音，尤其是萨斯卡彻温、阿尔伯塔这样的农业大省。

With the rapid rising of living standards of the Chinese population, there will be growing demand for high quality agricultural products from Canada. For example, thanks to the growing beer consumption in China, the import of Canadian malting barley, an ingredient of many popular Chinese beer products, has been on the increase in the past few years. Besides, the bakers in China are using more and more wheat imported from Canada as well. In 2010 alone, Canada’s export of canola to China reached 2 million tons, a value of over 1.6 billion dollars. So for provinces like Saskatchewan and Alberta, the growing demand of the Chinese population is just good news.

　　与加拿大的农业科技合作则有利于提高两国农业科技水平，对中国改变农业生产总体粗放的局面会有很大帮助。比如，中加农业科学家联合开展燕麦杂交育种工作，成功选育出新品种，并在从未种植过燕麦的中国南方盐碱地种植成功。经过推广使用，中国燕麦种植面积由过去的200-300万亩迅速扩大到1050万亩。除燕麦外，中加两国还在农业加工、动物卫生、转基因生物安全等领域开展了富有成效的技术交流合作。去年中国公布的“十二五”规划提出要推进农业结构战略性调整、加快农业科技创新，发展现代农业，实现这一目标离不开与加拿大的合作。

The cooperation in agricultural science and technology between China and Canada helps both ways, and is particularly helpful in improving the efficiency of agricultural production in China. For instance, Chinese and Canadian scientists jointly conducted the oats hybrid breeding project and developed new varieties, which successfully grow in saline-alkali soil of China. After years of successful experimenting, the growing area of oats in China increased sharply from 2 to 3 million mu to 10.5 million mu (1 mu= 1/6 acre). Apart from oats, the two countries also carried out fruitful cooperation in areas like agricultural products processing, animal health and GMO bio-safety. According to the 12th Five Year Plan, China is developing modern agriculture through promoting strategic restructuring of its agriculture and speeding up the innovation of agro-science and technologies, and there is a huge role for Canada to play in that process.

　　此外，随着粮食安全问题更趋严峻，中加分别作为发展中和发达世界的农业大国，发挥互补优势，开展农业贸易、科技研发乃至产业合作，对于应对这一全人类共同挑战也具有重要意义。

It is also important for China and Canada, two major countries in agriculture from both the developing and developed world, to work together to tackle the increasingly serious issue of global food security, by drawing upon their complementarities and expanded trade, joint R&D and investment in agricultural sector.

　　正因为中加农业合作如此重要，双方建立了多个由政府主导或参与的合作机制加以引导扶持，例如中加农业联委员会、中加农业高层论坛、加拿大农业部与中国教育部的农业博士培养计划等等。这些机制为两国农业合作的飞速发展提供了强有力的依托。

As a clear manifestation of importance attached to the bilateral cooperation in agriculture, China and Canada established many cooperative mechanisms at the initiatives by the two governments including China-Canada Joint Agricultural Commission (JAC), high level agriculture forum and joint PhD programs on agricultural science launched by Agriculture and Agri-food Canada and Chinese Ministry of Education and many more. All these program served as a strong support and basis for the rapid development of agricultural cooperation between the two sides.

　　对于今后中加农业合作，我首先希两国能进一步扩大农产品贸易。农产品贸易不仅是为了满足口福，它对农业产业发展和升级也能产生巨大驱动，当然这需要在农产品检验检疫合作的基础上有序推进。当前重点是落实哈珀总理访华之行在上述方面取得的成果。双方还应依托已经建成的6个农业科技合作示范基地，在提升农业科技创新能力的同时，探索通过科技合作带动双向投资和农产品贸易的新模式。此外，农业科技人材的培养也很关键。双方应更加积极地开展学术交流、技术培训、科技展览等活动，加大高级农业科技人才联合培养力度，为中加农业合作储备“大脑库”。

What hold for the future? First and foremost, I wish the two countries can expand their trade in agriculture on the basis of sound cooperation and arrangement in animal and plant inspection and quarantine. This is not only to satisfy the needs of the population, more importantly, it serves as the driving forces for industrial upgrading and development. Now the priority is to turn the results of Prime Minister Harper’s recent visit to China into concrete actions. Both sides should also, making good use of the existing six pilot model bases, work hard together to enhance the technical innovation capacity for agricultural industries and through that, creating favorable conditions for two-way trade and investment. What is equally important is the training of more agriculture-related talents. The two sides need to do more in academic exchanges, technical training, sci-tech exhibition and so on to step up the joint efforts in cultivating more talents for expanded cooperation in agricultural science and technology.

中加农业合作既可惠人民之口，亦有利于固国家之本，我们没有理由不全力以赴。

As the sector of agriculture is critical to both nations and our peoples, we have every reason to push for more cooperation and exchange in this area.