WAGENINGEN, Netherlands, Sept. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The collision of intellectual sparks between China and the Netherlands was witnessed by Wageningen in the Netherlands, which is called "City of Life Sciences". On September 12, upgrading activity of Yili European Innovation Center with the theme of "Enabling Connecting Globally by Innovation" and opening ceremony of Yili Wageningen University Cooperative Laboratory were grandly held here.

Fresco, CEO of Wageningen University, Zhang Jianqiu, CEO of Yili Group, and relevant representatives of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, China Industrial and Commercial Council in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and China Chamber of International Commerce, several experts of China and the Netherlands in the economic and scientific and technological sectors, and international partners of Yili Group and other more than 200 guests attended this event.

In 2014, Yili, together with Wageningen University in the Netherlands, jointly established "European Research and Development Center", which is the overseas research and development center with the highest specification in China. In the upgrading ceremony, Zhang Jianqiu announced that Yili European Research and Development Center was officially upgraded to European Innovation Center, which further shows continuous efforts of Yili in innovation.

For this, Zhang Yi, deputy secretary general of China Chamber of International Commerce attended this event and expressed that from establishment to upgrading of Yili European Research and Development Center, it has covered different fields, has built bridges between countries and continents, and has integrated different cultures, which can be used to not only satisfy technological demand of the enterprises, but also directly transfer innovation of the research institute. It can be regarded as an excellent example of non-governmental cooperation between China and foreign countries, setting a new benchmark for the development of the enterprises under the situation of world economic integration in the future.

Fresco expressed her opinion in her speech: "Wageningen University is one of the best agricultural universities in the world and Yili is the biggest dairy company in Asia. The collaboration between Wageningen University and Yili is not only beneficial for the Chinese market, but more importantly, for the global market. Still, millions of people suffer from poverty and malnutrition. This pushes us to consider the ecosystem, soil, good protein source and many other areas. We have a saying that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but I think a glass of milk a day can also keep the doctor away. I hope Yili and Wageningen University can work together more to provide some healthy products and bring positive effects to the whole society."

Since establishment, great efforts have been taken by Yili European Research and Development Center in the fields of "early warning system for food safety" and "breast milk database" and others, such as to study and establish an early warning system for food safety, upgrade the first breast milk research database in China, and continuously promote the development of Yili and dairy industry in China.

In recent years, innovation has been regarded by Yili as the "core" power for the development of the enterprise; different ways of innovation have been established for the primary, secondary and tertiary industry in the industry chain; multiple innovation institutions have been established at home and abroad for the organization structure, in order to coordinate global wisdom and plan for the future. In the "List of World Top-20 Enterprises in the Global Dairy Industry" issued by RABOBANK, Yili has been ranking among the top ten in the global dairy industry and has been ranking first in Asia for many years.

Zhang Jianqiu further stated that in recent years, with continuous acceleration of diversification of consumer demand and the integration of global dairy industry, innovation has become the "winning hand" for determining the future of an enterprise. In this context, Yili puts forward the development concept of "incubating the future by innovation and linking the world by wisdom", and continuously promotes innovation and development of the dairy industry centering on "empowerment" and "integration". In the future, Yili Group will continuously promote innovation and enable innovation to be a "propeller" for the development of Yili and even the dairy industry in China.

On the same day, the "First Meeting of China-Netherlands Business Council" was jointly held by China Chamber of International Commerce and Yili Group, where participants jointly and deeply explored economic and trade cooperation between China and Netherlands in the current situation.