China, ASEAN launch platform to control plant and animal diseases

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) launched a data platform for control and prevention of plant and animal diseases across borders today, during a bilateral meeting.

Through the platform China and ASEAN members can adopt unified regulations in monitoring, preventing and controlling animal and plant diseases across their borders, said Li Jianwei, chief for animal and plant quarantine supervision at the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The two sides will have more intensified and effective cooperation in this field, Li said during the platform's launching ceremony at a ministerial meeting between the two sides in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

In addition, the platform will facilitate trade between China and ASEAN and result in the swifter flow of agricultural products between the two sides, he said.

"With accelerated economic globalization, animal and plant diseases have been transmitting more rapidly and extensively across borders," Li said. "This has posed serious threats to the global economy, public health and ecological systems. China and ASEAN also face the same problem."

The platform will integrate related systems in China and ASEAN member countries, such as animal and plant disease collection, monitoring, information management and warning systems. It also will evaluate the risks of the spread of such diseases to give rational and economic solutions to disease prevention and control across the border between China and ASEAN, Li said.

All data on the platform will be shared between these countries, so China and ASEAN will share information on animal and plant diseases and be better coordinated in coping with challenges, he said.

More than 1 million metric tons of fruits from ASEAN members were exported to China through ports in Guangxi, which borders Vietnam, last year, a 45 percent increase compared with 2014, according to the regional government.

Last year, entry-exit authorities across China intercepted 1.04 million batches of harmful species at ports and prevented them from entering China, an increase of about 30 percent compared with the previous year, according to General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. Many of the harmful species were found in agricultural products exported to China.

Contact the writer at wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn.