September 28, 2020, the launch meeting of the foreign aid project ‘China and Ethiopia Joint Research and Demonstration on Drought-resistant Maize Cultivation Technology’ was held in Beijing. This project is funded by Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology with the Institute of Genetics and Physiology as the project leader.
The meeting was chaired by Wang Yu, International Cooperation of Hebei Provincial Department of Science and Technology. More than 20 people attended the meeting, who were from the project implementing units including the Institute of Genetics and Physiology of HAAFS, the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planing of CAAS, Hebei Universe Agricultural Science and Technology Co. Ltd. and National Semiarid Agricultural Engineering Technology Research Center.

The launching project is to select high drought tolerant varieties and relative cultivation technologies to reduce the yield loss caused by drought in East and South of Africa.