On the morning of the 3^rd of December, the RUC held the foreign cooperation in agriculture “Talent Search Programme” for the 2016-2017 graduate season. The Ministry of Agriculture’s deputy Department Head of the Department of International Cooperation ZHANG Lubiao lead a group of 59 employment agencies to take part in the recruitment activities. RUC deputy Chairman of the University Council WU Fulai orated at the opening ceremony, with over 600 graduate students from RUC, Peking University, Tsinghua University, China Agriculture University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Central Minzu University, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and other leading institutions from Beijing and around the nation in attendance. During his speech deputy Chairman WU briefed the audience on the current circumstances at RUC focussing on its record of academic preponderance, its unique education methods and its ability to produce talented students. He noted that promoting international cooperation in agriculture is crucial to improving the international competitiveness of Chinese agricultural produce, a necessary component of the ‘belt and road’ strategy, and that for Chinese agricultural produce to continue to be competitive it must strive to improve its standard. This, he said, will happen with the support of talented young people, and in this way RUC and agricultural export businesses have a sound future of cooperation. He then expressed thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture for choosing to hold the “Talent Search Programme” event at RUC, hoping that it would prove a great opportunity for RUC’s graduate students, and that it serves as a fantastic means by which to make a contribution to the nation’s agricultural industry. Following, deputy Director ZHANG said a few words regarding the significance and background of this activity. He said that the reason why China’s leading agricultural businesses go to China’s leading academic institutions to search for talent is that they realise these places are home to many talented graduates whose hard work and innovation will assist them to realise their goals of opening up export markets. He expressed thanks to RUC for holding and supporting this event, expressing hope that all of the talented graduate students in attendance will gain a penetrating perspective on the future development of the agricultural industry, that by being employed by one of the companies they would be able to utilise and develop their knowledge and realise their full potential. Guangdong Bureau of Agricultural Land Reclamation and Hebei Qimei Agricultural Technology Company Limited gave speeches on behalf of the various enterprises in attendance. Before the recruitment expo began, deputy Chairman WU and deputy Director ZHANG held talks with representatives from the companies. Deputy Chairman WU and deputy Director ZHANG arrived at the event, learning of the needs and wishes of prospective employers and employees. The recruitment expo was sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, with over 59 recruitment agencies from 18 provinces around China in attendance. Over 3000 positions were on offer, for students graduated from undergraduate, Master’s and PhD programmes, requiring specialists in such fields as agricultural economic management, regional economics, project management, English, international trade, Chinese, and accounting.