On October 7, 2024, Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and Xia Jingyuan, Special Advisor to the Office of the Director General, visited Shanghai Ocean University (SHOU), and met with SHOU President Wan Rong and Vice President Jiang Min，accompanied by heads from the Office of International Exchange and the College of Fisheries and Life Sciences. During the visit, both sides carried out in-depth exchanges and discussions on sustainable aquatic development, “blue transformation”, international cooperation and other important issues.
Wan Rong expressed warm welcome to Beth Bechdol, briefly introduced the basic situation and disciplinary advantages of SHOU, and affectionately recalled the history of cooperation and exchange between SHOU and FAO, focusing on introducing the work progress of the Center for Ecological Aquaculture (CEA) in recent years and proposing considerations on future cooperation. Beth Bechdol expressed heartfelt thanks for SHOU's reception, highly commended SHOU's achievements in China's “double first-class” discipline development, and expressed her willingness to further strengthen in-depth cooperation with SHOU in aquatic technology promotion, talent training and South-South cooperation, and jointly contribute to the development of the global aquatic and even agricultural industry.
Beth Bechdol also gave a report titled Recent Trends in Global Food and Agriculture and Insights into the Work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the lecture was hosted by Vice President Jiang Min. The audience responded enthusiastically and applauded; during the interactive session, students asked questions enthusiastically, Beth Bechdol answered in detail and encouraged SHOU students to actively participate in the process of realizing the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Beth Bechdol and her delegation also visited SHOU's “double first-class” achievements show, further understanding the SHOU's development achievements in recent years. Both sides reached a consensus on the subsequent cooperation plan.
The favorable relationship between Shanghai Ocean University (SHOU) and FAO has been lasting for more than 40 years. In September 2021, the Fourth FAO Global Aquaculture Conference in Shanghai released the Shanghai Declaration on Promoting Sustainable Development of Global Aquaculture. In order to implement this action initiative as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and to promote the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Shanghai Ocean University (SHOU) established the Center for Ecological Aquaculture (CEA) under the guidance of FAO and the Administration of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China (MAA). The Center is actively engaged in talent training, technological innovation, industrial research, and experience learning and model promotion for the development of green and sustainable aquaculture, and promotes the vigorous development of aquaculture ecology with a global perspective.
FAO has been firmly committed to promoting global agricultural development, guaranteeing food security and promoting sustainable rural development. The visit by the Deputy Director General fully demonstrates the great importance and expectation of SHOU's participation in global aquatic development, and injects a strong new impetus for the development of SHOU's “double first-class” discipline construction. Under the guidance of FAO, Shanghai Ocean University will further utilize the advantages of its “double first-class” academic disciplines, and contribute more wisdom and strength to promote the sustainable development of global agriculture and realize food security and rural prosperity with more vigorous efforts and firm determination.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), formally established on October 16, 1945 as a specialized agency of the United Nations, aims to improve the nutritional level and standard of living of all peoples, increase the efficiency of production and distribution of all food and agricultural products, improve the living conditions of rural populations, and contribute to the development of the world economy and, ultimately, to the eradication of hunger and poverty; and as the world's information center in the field of food and agriculture, FAO collects and disseminates information on worldwide production, trade and technology in the field of food and agriculture, promotes the exchange of information among member countries, provides technical assistance to member countries to help raise the level of agricultural technology, provides agricultural policy support and advisory services to member countries, especially developing ones, discusses major issues in the field of international food and agriculture and formulates the relevant international codes of conduct and regulations.