High-ranking visitors from Shandong province in China visited our group

Today, a high-ranking delegation from the Chinese Shandong province visited us to explore possibilities of future collaborations and exchange. The visit had been initiated by Dr. Georg Ebert, CTO of the Speciality Fertilizer Business Unit of the well-known Münster company Compo with whom we are informally collaborating since several years in the development of chitosan-based plant biostimulants. Compo is now part of the Chinese company Kingenta Ecological Engineering Group whose Vice-President Mr. Chen Hongkun along with Kingenta manager Mrs. Wang Min were members of the delegation. They were accompanied by Mr. Zhu Yougang from Shandong Provincial Government, Mr. Kang Zhongxin from Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, and Mr. Chu Guoliang from Shandong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, as well as by Mrs. Wang Jianghui, Chief of International Collaboration Division of Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Bruno Moerschbacher gave a short presentation of Münster University and of the research of our group, with a focus on agricultural applications of chitosan-based plant biostimulants, followed by brief presentations of the Chinese guests who emphasized the importance and efficiency of Shandong province in terms of academic research as well as industrial development. Aided by the technical and translating competence of Dr. Lu Yin-Bandur, chemist and Head of Product Development at Compo Professional, we then engaged in a vivid discussion concerning opportunities for future R&D projects and for the establishment of student exchanges between Münster and Shandong which would be of mutual interest and benefit. Prof. Moerschbacher mentioned BMBF’s “2+2” concept of Public Private Partnership projects which was already known to the Chinese side, raising hopes that this might be a framework for future collaborations.