Jeppe Juul Petersen, sector counselor on food and agriculture at the Royal Danish Embassy in China in an interview with China Daily on Sept 10 [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"It gives good opportunities for Jinan, capital of Shandong province, to host a big event like this," said Jeppe Juul Petersen, sector counselor on food and agriculture at the Royal Danish Embassy in China, during the International Conference on Food Loss and Waste on Sept 10.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Petersen noted Jinan is a city with a lot of resources, adding it can be good to combine reflections on how to use limited resources in a good manner.

"As I have learned so far, Jinan is transforming to have a more knowledge-based economy. I see there are many similarities to the Danish economy, in that we also live on our knowledge," Petersen said.

He said there are good possibilities for Jinan to work with Denmark. “We have strategic sector cooperation between Denmark and China. And we are always ready to work more with China," he added.

The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has worked to enhance cooperation with Denmark since 2016. The two sides are working together, aiming to make a catalog of recommendations to resource efficiency, food loss, and food waste, according to Petersen.

The conference, under the theme of "reducing food loss and waste and promoting global food security", aims to bolster global exchanges, and serves as a platform to collect knowledge, as well as further impact on sustainable development goals.

During the interview, Petersen also mentioned China's efforts in achieving a "zero hunger" target. He pointed out that bringing food security to citizens is a big effort achieved in China.

"A lot has been achieved in food security in China. And I think the transformation is now going towards more focus on sustainability. It is very good," Petersen said.