To deepen university-enterprise industry-academia-research cooperation and further promote exchanges between the College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences of Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) and Yafei Seed, on May 21, 2026, Vice Dean Zhou Jirong led a team of key teachers from the Department of Vegetable Science and Protected Horticulture to visit Yafei Seed for special exchange seminars and joint Party building activities. He Yafei, General Manager of Yafei Seed, together with the company’s core R&D and management teams, participated in the whole event.

During the visit, He Yafei accompanied the college leaders and teachers to tour core scientific research facilities including the laboratories, biotechnology R&D center and trial greenhouses of Yafei Agricultural Science and Technology Park. He introduced the overall scientific research layout, modern breeding R&D system, and pilot demonstration achievements of new varieties. The visiting group highly recognized Yafei Seed’s dedication to the seed industry and pragmatic research philosophy, and affirmed the company’s solid strength in advancing variety innovation based on industrial realities.

Subsequently, both sides held a special symposium on university-enterprise cooperation, presided over by Vice Dean Zhou Jirong. At the meeting, Zhou Jirong elaborated on the research fields, academic focuses and key achievements of participating teachers, laying a solid foundation for targeted cooperation and joint technological research. He Yafei shared the company’s development history, original aspiration for entrepreneurship, marketing system and whole industrial chain layout, and highlighted the innovation-driven development strategy. He pointed out that China still faces bottleneck constraints in the breeding of broccoli, carrot, Welsh onion and other vegetable varieties. As an enterprise committed to characteristic vegetable breeding, Yafei Seed focuses on the R&D of high-quality specialty vegetable varieties and urgently hopes to leverage university scientific research strengths to drive industrial breakthroughs.

Yao Shaolin, R&D Director of Yafei Seed, further detailed cooperation demands. He illustrated technical difficulties encountered in breeding new varieties such as Isatis root red flowering Chinese cabbage, Isatis root puff green vegetable, cauliflower and Welsh onion, as well as the company’s demands for scientific talent reserve and team training. Meanwhile, he put forward cooperation proposals including the joint establishment of the HZAU-Yafei Research Institute, collaborative research on breeding technologies, and the building of a university-enterprise science and technology workstation. The initiative aims to channel high-quality intellectual resources and core technologies from the university to the industrial frontline, so as to precisely solve practical problems in production and R&D.

Both sides conducted in-depth discussions on targeted cooperation directions, research achievement transformation, and joint talent cultivation via industry-academia collaboration. All participants agreed that enterprises are rooted in the market with clear insight into industrial demands, while universities excel in basic research with solid academic accumulation. The cooperation model of “enterprise sets the question, university provides the solution” fits the development characteristics of the seed industry, enabling resource complementarity, mutual advantage sharing and two-way empowerment.

He Yafei stated that Yafei Seed and Huazhong Agricultural University enjoy geographical proximity, complementary resources and consistent development concepts, laying a solid foundation and broad prospects for in-depth cooperation. He expressed the expectation to expand collaboration in variety R&D, industrial upgrading and talent cultivation, so as to unite strengths and achieve win-win results. Zhou Jirong concluded that the exchange was fruitful and constructive, reaching multiple consensus and generating valuable innovative ideas. The college will further refine cooperation plans, implement practical measures, steadily advance all collaborative projects, and jointly write a new chapter of university-enterprise win-win development and seed industry revitalization.

At the end of the event, the two parties carried out joint Party building study. All participants collectively studied the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech on strengthening basic research and the spirit of his reply letter to representatives of youth pioneer award winners. Combined with typical cases, they also conducted warning education on a correct view of political achievements, guiding all participants to stay true to the original aspiration of scientific research, take on responsibilities actively, and lead technological innovation in the seed industry and in-depth university-enterprise cooperation through Party building.