The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a partnership to support new research and development (R&D) and production of new products for global health and agriculture, Agence France-Presse reports (10/26).

“Human and animal vaccines, diagnostics for TB (tuberculosis) and other diseases, hardier varieties of rice and other crops, and more productive livestock are among the innovations likely to be considered first,” according to a statement from the Gates Foundation (10/26). MOST Vice Minister Zhang Laiwu said this was the first partnership the ministry has formed with a foreign non-governmental organization, Xinhua/China Daily notes (Shan, 10/27).