China-Russia Soybean Joint Research Center

The China-Russia Soybean Joint Research Center was established in June 2022 with the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China. The Chinese partners include the Heihe Branch of the Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Institute of Crop Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, while the international collaborators are the All-Russia Research Institute of Soybean and the Far Eastern State Agricultural University. The center aims to address the industrial needs of soybean development in both countries by integrating research expertise in soybean germplasm breeding, biotechnology, plant protection, and cultivation. Through project collaboration, platform sharing, information exchange, and talent development, it focuses on the identification and innovation of early-maturing soybean germplasm resources, breeding new early-maturing soybean varieties with high yield and quality, developing high-yield and high-efficiency soybean cultivation technologies, and conducting soybean trials and demonstrations. 

By June 2025, the center has successfully held the First and Second China-Russia Soybean Science and Technology Cooperation Forums, as well as the First China-Russia Symposium on Crop Molecular Breeding. Sixteen Russian soybean varieties have been introduced to China, and two Chinese soybean varieties have undergone ecological adaptability trials in Russia. Upon the recommendation of the ICS-CAAS, Academician Valentina Sinegovskaia from the All-Russia Research Institute of Soybean was awarded the 2023 Chinese Government Friendship Award. Professor Han Tianfu from the ICS-CAAS was elected as a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2025 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to agricultural science and technology.