A New Research Center on Geographical Indications Established
Institute
of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3974/geodp.2024.03.10
CSTR: https://cstr.escience.org.cn/CSTR:20146.99.2024.03.10
On
19 July 2024, the Geographical Indication Research Center was established at
the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese
Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR-CAS). At the opening ceremony, Professor Cui,
Shengxian, Deputy Director General of the IGSNRR-CAS, announced the institute??s
decision on the establishment of the center (Figure 1). He indicated that the
new center is a new milestone of the institute in his long history, it will not
only empower geographical sciences, but also increase its impact for the green
transition and regional sustainable development.
More than a hundred of officers, scientists
and business leaders from government, universities and enterprises witnessed
the establishment of center. The meeting was chaired by Professor Wang, Zhenbo,
Deputy Director of the center.
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Figure 1 Professor
Cui, Shengxian announced the decision of the institute on the establishment
of the GISE
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Professor Liu, Yanhua (Figure 2), the Chair of the
Advisory Group for the Geographical Indications Environment and
Sustainability (GIES), one of the Innovation China Initiative of China
Association on Science and Technology (CAST) delivered a supporting letter. He
pointed out that China had a long history, vast territory, diverse climate, profound
culture, and extremely abundant geographical indication resources. It was a
product of the gifts of heaven and human history, which had both natural
endowments and the accumulation of human civilization over the years.
Geographical indication products had been included in the intellectual property agreement in the world
trade system, emphasizing the protection of origin and trademarks. It was also
one of the important intellectual property rights stipulated in the Civil Code.
Geographical indication products cannot be simply explained as the local specialties,
they contain special meanings such as region (area), quality characteristics
and their stability, historical sedimentation and objectivity of reputation, as
well as the integration of nature and culture.
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Figure 2 Congratulatory
letter from Professor Liu, Yanhua, Chair of the Advisory Group for the GIES
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Figure 3 Speech
by Professor Zhang, Guoyou, Vice President and Secretary General of Geographical
Society of China
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Professor Zhang, Guoyou, Vice President and
Secretary General of Geographical Society of China, highly praised the
establishment of the center (Figure 3). He said that this was a milestone in the Chinese
geographical community, which will not only fill the gap in geography research,
but also link it to village sustainable development. He
emphasized that since 2021, the GIES program launched jointly by the Geographical Society
of China, the IGSNRR-CAS and other units has had a
profound impact on the research work of geographical indications, especially
highlighting the pioneering role of Professor Liu, Chuang in this process. He
hoped that the center may further promote new achievements in the research of
all geographical indications, geographical special products, and geographical
culture products. To this end, Professor Zhang, Guoyou provided three
suggestions: firstly, the center should establish and improve a standard system
for high-quality geographic products; secondly, the center may pay more attention
to the study the scientific and practical significance of geographical
indications; thirdly, the center should strengthen data acquisition to promote
the integration of digital and green economic transformation, and finally, the
Geographical Society of China will further strengthen its organizational
construction, do a good job in formulating and certifying environment protection
standards for better products, better nutrition, better environment and better
life, leaving no one behind, which FAO indicated in its One Country One
Priority Product Initiative.
Professor Cheng, Jingen, Deputy Director General of the Department
of Quality Country of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, expressed
warm congratulations to the establishment of the GI
center in IGSNRR-CAS (Figure 4). He shared his experience in the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Affairs, from quantity growth, to food safety, and to quality
control for agriculture products. He pointed out that geographical indication
product was not only a quality control, but also an intellectual property
right, and a comprehensive
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Figure 4 Speech
by Professor Cheng, Jingen
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Figure 5 Professor
Song, Xianfang, Director of the GI research center, delivered a report titled
??Positioning, Objectives, and Work Plan of the GI research center?? at the
meeting
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empowerment of geographical
culture. He hoped that the center could produce a deep understanding of the
research, providing advising for the local people and farmers. He also hoped
that the center can help the industry development and consumers?? quality
of life. Finally, he expressed his desire to collaborate with all parties, hoping to establish multifaceted and multidisciplinary
research cooperation, carry out joint research, and
jointly promote the development of geographical indication products.
Professor Song, Xianfang (Figure 5)??Director of the center, reviewed
the achievements made during the past three years and pointed out that the GI
research center will be a window and platform for the institute to conduct
research on the environment protection and sustainable development The main
tasks of the center were:
(1) Exploring the theory, methods and regional
differentiation pattern of modern comprehensive geography research centered on
geographical indications;
(2) Conducting research on the series of
geographical indication standards to ensure the standardization of the quality
and reputation of geographical indication products. Developing a batch of independently owned
GIES observation equipment to support the acquisition and analysis of
scientific data, and establishing a nationwide GIES ground station observation network to
improve data acquisition capabilities;
(3) Promoting the implementation of GIES
projects, protecting and improving the ecological environment of
geographical indication products through technological means, exploring the
cultural connotations of geographical indications, enhancing the cultural added
value and market competitiveness of products;
(4) Proposing a solution for implementing
the SDGs in geographic science, to assist in the development of new quality
productivity, rural revitalization, and high-quality development, further
promoting the construction of a beautiful China, supporting national science
and technology diplomacy, building a community with a shared future for
mankind, and leveraging the important role of geographic technology in social
development;
(5) Promoting the teams work and ensuring
the research continuity and sustainability.
Professor Liu, Chuang (Figure 6) pointed out that currently,
promoting the United Nations??
sustainable development goals, and the high-quality
development of the country are the primary tasks of socialist construction, the
theoretical research of geography lags behind
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Figure 6 Professor
Liu, Chuang, delivered a report at the meeting
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social
development to a certain extent, especially in the context of the global call
for green development and China??s advocacy for a community with a shared future
for mankind, geography urgently needs to provide practical and feasible
solutions from grassroots villages to the international global level. To this
end, she led the team to launch the Decade Initiative on GIES (2021?C2030).
Focusing on geographical indications, geographical characteristics, and geographical
traditional products, the initiative started from six dimensions: variety,
quality, appearance, brand, morality, and taste. By utilizing open science,
geographical big data, and Internet of Things technologies, and through the
Global Change Research Data Publishing &Repository World Data Center, the
initiative integrated science, technology, engineering, standards, and culture.
It established a case traceability and intellectual property rights protection
system. By participating in the China International Fair for Trade in Services,
organizing the GIES New Year Fair, holding joint exhibitions with the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and participating in the
China-EU Geographical Indications Expo, the initiative effectively promoted the
organic connection of various links in the research of geographical indications
and fostered healthy development.
She pointed out that modern integrated
geography is the core theory of geographical indication research, and its
current important task was to transform: (1) from regional scale mostly to the
local to regional scales by bottom up methodology, including village, towns,
county scales and then global scales including country region and globally; (2)
from factor research to comprehensive analysis of geographical diversity; (3)
on the principles of regional
differences to regional cooperation; (4) from descriptive expression to digital
transformation; (5) from individual person research to intelligent systems; (6)
from publishing article only to a comprehensive and practical approach.
At the same time, she emphasized a research
methodology that combines bottom-up and top-down approaches, with GIES as the
starting point and the integration of data and reality as the driving force, to
expand the field of integrated geography research. In addition, she emphasized
the importance of combining technology and law, advocating for effective protection
of intellectual property rights through a parallel approach between technology
and law. Against the backdrop of the new opportunities brought about by the
construction of a unified national market, we aim to promote the development of
local specialty products on a larger stage by combining the construction of
geographical indication product distribution centers with their place of
origin. Finally, Professor Liu said that the geographical indications with
modern comprehensive geography will have a broad and profound field, which was also an important lever for geography to influence and lead the trend
of social development in the coming decades.
Dr. Zhang, Songmei, Deputy Director General
of the Big Data Development Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
of the People??s Republic of China, congratulated the establishment of the GI
research center and emphasized its significant importance as a carrier for GIES
work. Looking back on her personal career, she deeply feels that agricultural
products are a fully integrated industry chain and an extremely complex
process. She emphasized that data plays an important role in product quality,
food safety, and promoting agricultural modernization. Taking this opportunity,
she introduced the positioning of the Big Data Development Center, which is
committed to data collection, computation, application, and has launched the
??full agricultural code?? technology to achieve industry chain
information docking and data
correlation, and improve the traceability of quality and industry chain in the
future.
Professor Dai, Erfu, head of Lhasa
Ecological Research Station, pointed out in his speech that the Lhasa
Ecological Research Station mainly focuses on the unique ecological environment
and geographical characteristics of the Qinghai Xizang Plateau, including the research
work on fragile ecological restoration technology, artificial grassland and
natural grassland selection varieties, and farmers?? income increase.
Professor Fu, Jingying, the Principle Investigator of the GIES Case on Rice Permanent
Farmland in Lanjia Village, Jilin Province of China, said that she was
fortunate to participate in and witness the development of this project from
its inception to the present day. In the past three years, the team represented
by Professor Liu has conducted extensive innovative and exploratory research
and practice in the field of geographical indication products. She emphasized
that GIES cases have enabled villagers to truly feel the changes brought about
by technology, not only achieving good results in social and economic benefits,
but also becoming
a pathway for technology empowerment to support high-quality local development.
In the next step, that GIES cases will pay more attention to achieve
sustainable development in
terms of standards, markets, and benefiting society.
Chi, Hanghang, Director of Fengxian Public
Data Center, said three GIES cases were identified from Fengxian County since
2021. They were: Fengxian Burdock (Arctium lappa) Ancient Yellow River Flooding
Area Case, Fengxian Pear Ancient Yellow River Floodplain and Fengxian Apple in
the Ancient Yellow River (Dashahe). Fengxian County has been an active
participant in the GIES activities. Fengxian County successfully co-organized
the 2023 Conference on GIES of the Ancient Yellow River Basin and GIES products
exhibition together with FAO OCOP (One Country, One Priority Product) in Asia
and the Pacific Region. In supporting GIES, Fengxian County and its big data
center supported the Online Mall of GIES products, which was convenient for
people to order the high-quality agriculture product countrywide. 34 products
from 17 GIES cases already online.
Mr. Hua, Liming from China Ecological Civilization
Research and Promotion Association stated that following the green and digital
transformation strategy of China, three recommendations were made. Firstly, the
center should strengthen research on regularity, mechanisms, standards, and
culture to provide scientific support for the decision making. Secondly, the GI
research center may become a good helper for local practice and innovation, by
providing professional guidance and technical support, promoting high-quality
development and ecological civilization construction, and playing the role of
the national high level. Finally, the center may act as an effective promoter
of geographical indication publicity, and disseminate the successful model and
share its experience openly available to all of the world.
Professor Liu, Yizhuo from Chinese Academy
of International Trade and Economic Cooperation elaborated on the key
role of GI products in promoting consumption upgrading, international trade
growth, and rural revitalization. She pointed out that branding will play an
important role to enhance consumer upgrading, to add value through the brand. In
response to the
challenges facing the current international trade, Professor Liu emphasized
that GI products will enhance the added value of agricultural products with
their uniqueness and high quality. Finally, she indicated it was an opportunity
that the combination of agricultural products with natural and cultural
resources through the GI research center platform to create a higher quality
brand.
Mr. Yang, Shuanchang, President of the
China-Europe Association for Technological and Economic Cooperation,
congratulated the establishment of the GI research center. On behalf of the
European Commission, the European Union, and the organizing committee of the
Global Geographical Indications Products Expo, he invited the center to
participate in the ??Third China International Geographical Indication Products
Expo?? to be held in Luzhou, Sichuan from September 20th to 22nd this year. He
hoped that the team of the GI research center of the IGSNRR-CAS, could further
explore the connotation of geographical science, form a systematic theoretical
knowledge system, and provide scientific support for the protection and
development of geographical indication products.
Professor Mao, Kebiao of the Institute of
Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, CAAS, put forward three
suggestions. Firstly, he highly praised the establishment of the GI research
center, believing that it is a very good theme that not only represents local
traditional culture and knowledge, but also an important manifestation of
intellectual property rights. He is particularly grateful for the hard work of
the researchers at the IGSNRR-CAS, who have elevated the research and practice
of geographical indications to new heights. At the same time, he believes that
geographical indication products need to be further promoted to make local
people aware of their unique value and importance, thereby stimulating their
awareness of protection. Secondly, Professor Mao, Kebiao emphasized the
importance of product traceability for food safety in the current Chinese
social context. Geographical indication products should take the lead in
establishing a traceability system to ensure that every product can be traced back to its
production source, which helps to enhance consumer trust. Finally, Professor
Mao, Kebiao hoped that under the guidance of the GI research center, China??s geographical
indication products will continue to improve, further promoting high-quality
development to new heights.
Professor Yun, Wenju, Director of the
Technology Innovation Center of Land Engineering, MNR, sent a congratulatory
letter, expressing warm congratulations on the establishment of the GI research
center. He pointed out that China??s economic and social development has entered
a new stage of high-quality development, and the Chinese people have stepped
into the era of high-quality life. Everyone??s enjoyment of high-quality, safe
and healthy agricultural products has become the new demand of the new era. The
production, supply, innovation and governance of high-quality geographical
indication products has become an important new direction of scientific
exploration. The establishment of the GI research center of the IGSNRR-CAS
conforms to the requirements of the development of the times, and will make a
major support for effectively promoting the new experience of happiness of the
Chinese people. The Technology Innovation Center of Land Engineering has always
taken the development, utilization, renovation and protection of high-quality
agricultural land resources as the
main direction, and is willing to strengthen substantive cooperation with the
GI research center to jointly promote the modernization of natural resource
element guarantee and land and space governance.
Ms. Liang, Ying, Chief Advisor of the
Traditional Chinese Medicine Trading Center (TCMTC), introduced the model of
the TCMTC. The center monitors the main production areas through satellite
remote sensing, designs trading models, reduces circulation links and losses,
establishes storage and supervision warehouses, and realizes product value
return. She emphasized that the trading center hopes to establish deep
cooperation with the GI research
center in IGSNRR-CAS.
Ms. Ren, Haimei, a Consultant of Xiangmi
Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., introduced the Panama??s coffee and its
ecological environment, long history and its unique variety characteristics and
roasting techniques. Ms. Su, Yan, Chairman of Guangxi Guipinyun Information
Technology Co., Ltd., reviewed the launch of the Lipu Taro-Rice Rotation
Permanent Farmland Case in Lipu, Guangxi, which has made Guangxi fortunate to
become a GIES case products. She expected to continue work with the GIES team
in Guangxi region. Mr. Zhang, Qi, Deputy General Manager of Beijing Zhongke
Life Service Co., Ltd., shared the planning and vision of the Park Service
Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Figure 7 Photo of meeting venue
Professor Chen, Shengbo from Jilin
University, as the Principle Investigator of the Panshi Chinese Cherry Apple case, shared
his sense of responsibility and mission as the chief scientist. He emphasized
that as a professor, writing papers not only means collecting data and
publishing a paper, but also transforming scientific research products into
practical results, and the process of transforming products into brands, which
was the strong driving force that inspires chief scientists.
Professor Wang, Zhenbo summarized the opening ceremony.