(Photo : Chinese Food)

The University of California Davis and the Jiangnam University has agreed to hold an exchange program that is focused on the development of the food industry. The Jiangnam University's Food Science and Technology Department will foster discussions between American and Chinese students and researchers. The program will be called, 'Taste of China.' This program will be led by UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology professor, Charles F. Shoemaker.

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The program will run for a month, where the participants will be immersed in different topics like lectures in Wuxi, several cooking lessons and visits to some parts of China including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shaozing and Suzhou.

Shoemaker said in a report by China Daily, "In the past, people really only came to the US to study food, but these days it's important for our students to get out and visit other countries to learn about their food cultures too. So much of Chinese culture is built around and over food, and I wanted to use the trip as a way to look at China's history and science through the lens of food."

He added that there are about 1,800 undergraduates, graduate students and faculty members in the Jiangnam University Food Science Program. This university is one of the top ranking in China, and possibly the largest around the globe.

The students from the UC Davis will join the program as they get to immerse into the culture and history of Chia. Classes are held in the Jiangnam University where students live in apartments nearby.

This year, the students are to visit Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC China. They see that the Chinese companies are now more focused on high food standards after a series of food scandal that threatened the world.

Shoemaker said, "There's been a rapid change in the way their infrastructure and distribution systems work, and China is finally catching up. Exchange and research programs are important to that process."