International potato research center established in Beijing

An international potato research center was established on Tuesday in Beijing as experts from the potato industry gathered for the 2015 Beijing World Potato Congress.

The International Potato Center - China Center for Asia and the Pacific (CCCAP) is aimed at boosting scientific research and industrial development in the potato industry.

China's agriculture minister Han Changfu saw the center as a sign of the country's opening-up and expanding international cooperation in the industry.

"We believe the center will bring new opportunities to the potato industry in China and the Asia-Pacific region and contribute to global food security and anti-poverty efforts," Han said at the founding ceremony.

The 2015 Beijing World Potato Congress opened on Monday in Beijing's Yanqing County, attracting more than 800 delegates from 37 countries. Organized by the World Potato Congress, the triennial event has been held eight times in various countries.

China is boosting potato acreage to make the crop the country's fourth staple food after rice, wheat and corn, in an effort to boost food security amid dwindling farmland.

The country will consume 50 billion kg more food in 2020 than it did in 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture forecast in January. With a shortage of farmland in China, the ministry stressed that it is difficult to improve the yield efficiency of wheat and rice but easier with potatoes.