On the afternoon of June 10, a 13-member delegation from the Serbian Training Program on Circular Economy and Waste Management visited the Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (BIOMA) for academic exchange with the institute's researchers. The two sides held in-depth discussions on topics related to the circular economy, including agricultural waste valorization, synthetic biology, livestock and poultry waste treatment, and the development of bio-based materials.

Representatives from BIOMA's Innovative Team of Microbial Synthetic Biology and Biotransformation first introduced the overall progress of scientific and technological cooperation between BIOMA and Serbia. Researchers from the Policy Research Team, the Innovative Team of Microbial Synthetic Biology and Biotransformation, the Innovative Team of Pollution Control from Livestock and Poultry Farming, the Innovative Team of Crop Straw Resource Utilization, the Innovative Team of Rural Habitat Improvement, and the Chengdu Agro-Ecosystem Research Station delivered presentations on multilateral cooperation mechanisms, synthetic biomanufacturing using non-food feedstocks, livestock pollution control, functionalization of biomass-based materials, dry anaerobic digestion of agricultural waste, and long-term agroecological observation.

On behalf of the Serbian delegation, Zorana Kovacević, Associate Professor of the Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad, introduced the faculty's education and research programs and expressed a strong interest in establishing substantive cooperation with BIOMA.

Following the presentations, the participants engaged in a half-hour open discussion, exchanging views on jointly applying for international cooperative projects, co-supervising young researchers, and promoting technology demonstration and application. Both sides agreed that China and Serbia have broad prospects for cooperation in the fields of circular economy and agricultural waste management. The delegation subsequently visited BIOMA's Microbial Synthetic Biology Laboratory and the Laboratory for Energy Utilization of Livestock and Poultry Waste, where they learned about the institute's research platforms and latest scientific achievements.

The Serbian delegation included representatives from the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Novi Sad, the Ministry of Interior of Serbia, the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, and other organizations. Their expertise covered animal science, plant science, pomology and horticulture, agricultural economics, environmental protection, and other related disciplines. The visit further enhanced the Serbian participants' understanding of BIOMA's research capabilities and laid a solid foundation for future cooperation between China and Serbia in the fields of circular economy and waste management.