A test field photographed at CIMMYT outside Texcoco, Mexico, on 7 November.

A copy of maize germplasm from China in the "Germplasm Bank" of CIMMYT outside Texcoco, Mexico, on 7 November.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), established in 1966, is a non-profit international agricultural research and training organization. Nearly half of the maize and wheat grown in developing countries worldwide comes from its germplasm. Since the establishment of the research partnership between China and CIMMYT in 1974, more than 20 Chinese institutions have participated in the exchange of germplasm, and over 5,000 Chinese researchers and postgraduate students have been jointly trained by both sides, bringing world experience to China's agricultural development. The centre's Mexican headquarter now has two resident Chinese researchers and a number of Chinese exchange scholars, giving back to the world the Chinese approach to food security. According to the CIMMYT, China has provided thousands of wheat germplasm resources to the crop diversity warehouse, 26% of the wheat grown in China since 2000 is "related by blood" to the Centre's varieties, and 13 new maize varieties developed in collaboration with the Centre have been planted in Nepal and other countries, helping to increase local grain production and income.