Update on MoU between ASG and CAFS (China)

In the first week of November 2025, Geert Wiegertjes travelled to Guangzhou and Beijing to have an MoU signed between ASG-CAFS (by Ernst van den Ende as Director of ASG) and CAFS (by CUI Guohui as President of CAFS). At the headquarters in Beijing, he met with the President of CAFS, and they exchanged signed copies of the MoU between CAFS and ASG. Although the MoU will not directly fund their activities, it may help facilitate China-funded travel and, of course, future collaboration.

The Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (CAFS) is a governmental scientific institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), specializing in fisheries sciences. CAFS plays a key role in Chinese fisheries science and in management policies. The academy’s research focuses on resource conservation, ecological environment, biotechnology, genetics and breeding, disease control, aquaculture, processing, and fishery engineering.

CAFS has 9 fisheries research institutes and four fisheries resource enhancement stations. In Guangzhou, Geert Wiegertjes visited the South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute (SCSFRI) and the Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute (PRFRI). He was accompanied by Dr. LU Yanan from the East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute (ECSFRI), Dr. LI Hongxia from the Freshwater Fisheries Research Center (FFRC), and Prof. XU Yongjiang from the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute (YSFRI).