Jointly organized by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and Syngenta Group China, the United Nations Food Systems Summit Independent Dialogue opened in Beijing on September 15. Agnes Kalibata, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the Summit, attended the meeting and delivered a speech via video. Erik Fyrwald, CEO of Syngenta Group, and Sun Tan, Vice President of CASS, had their presence and addressed the meeting.

The Dialogue focused on three major topics: food system transformation, food loss and waste, and digital innovation and services related to issues concerning agriculture, rural area and farmers.

Participants shared their views on the construction of a good ecology for green agricultural development and the transformation of the food system. They also proposed a plan in order to achieve sustainable development in China as well as a prospect for common development.

In his speech at the opening ceremony of the Independent Dialogue, Erik Fyrwald shared a series of major initiatives taken by Syngenta Group to address the challenges of global agricultural sustainable development, including investing in innovative products every year to help farmers better cope with climate changes. Its 413 MAP technical service centers in China, equipped with digital agricultural technology, professional crop solutions and a full-process quality control traceability system, support Chinese farmers to promote quality and yield in a sustainable way, in a bid to satisfy Chinese consumers' huge demand for high-quality healthy food. Run Tian, a Syngenta-launched multi-partnership project with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the UN Development Programme and the Nature Conservancy, is working to help Chinese farmers return straw directly to the field. It is expected to strengthen the soil health and carbon sequestration of at least 2 million hectares of farmland by 2023.