On May 18, 2012, Dr. Dai Xiaofeng, Director General of IFST met with the visiting group from the University of Missouri headed by Dr. Thomas L. Payne, vice Chancellor of the university and Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR). Mr. Gong Xifeng, deputy director of International Cooperation Department of CAAS and Mr. Zhang Mingjun, vice administrator in the Division of Bilateral Cooperation of the International Cooperation Department attended the meeting.

Mr. Gong Xifeng introduced the visiting delegation Dr. Marc Linit, associate director of the CAFNR presented the information of the University of Missouri and CAFNR. CAFNR is one of the six departments in the University of Missouri, and it has four research areas which are food science, bioengineering, hotel management, and agricultural management, and two research centers which are wine processing, bio-processing and biological sensing control. He expressed the wish to cooperate with IFST in the mentioned areas, and stating the cooperation from the researchers exchanges and the PhD students supervision in research areas of common interest. One of the possible ways of co-supervision PhD students is that the students study in the University of Missouri for one or two years to finish the thesis and then come back to China to finish the degree study.  

Dr. Dai extended a warm welcome to the delegation and proposed concrete suggestions on the bilateral cooperation in the areas of scientific research cooperation, academic communication, research talent cultivation and co-research platform construction, etc. He stated that University of Missouri and IFST have a large potential for cooperation, for example on cereals processing, livestock processing, functional food, food safety and wine processing. Dr. Dai highlighted that the two sides could push forward the substantive cooperation on researchers exchanges and cultivation, especially on the doctors and post-doctors cultivation; could explore the ways to joint-applying international research projects, joint-hosting international conferences, etc. He also stated the necessity of constructing the joint research laboratory to build the long-term bilateral cooperation.

        After the meeting, the delegation visited the Comprehensive Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, MOA and the National Agro-products Engineering Research Center.