Yinghua Xiao 
Liaoning, China

‘No pain, no gain!’

“I came to Holland in 2005, as a Bachelor in Biotechnology from China Agricultural University in Beijing. In Wageningen I graduated as a Master in Food Safety, after which I decided to participate in the Food Valley Ambassador Program. It’s a well organized training scheme, with a clear link to the food industry. It covers both academic practice and business skills such as communication, organization and management.

Real world
My one year internship at NIZO Food Research bridged the gap between university and the ‘real world’. Also, when arranging a business trip to my home country I learned a lot about how to cope with activities such as planning visits and doing presentations. It brought me into contact with account executives and managers, people I normally don’t meet when I’m working in my research lab.

Interaction
It’s really amazing that The Netherlands, being much smaller country than China, produces and exports such large quantities of high quality food products. In China, food safety is becoming more and more a hot issue, as we all know from the recent melamine affair in the diary sector. The Chinese food industry is eager to learn more about Dutch food processing techniques and management experience. However, to achieve better interaction between The Netherlands and China - scientifically, commercially and politically - there is still quite a lot of work to be done.

New stuff
Since early 2008 I’ve been working as a full time PhD fellow on a research project carried out for TIFN, the Top Institute Food & Nutrition (TIFN). As a food expert, I like to taste new stuff. That’s why I entered the Food Valley Ambassador Program. My advice to future Food Valley Ambassadors? Be prepared to work hard. You’ll be faced with an intensively-scheduled training program. You have to be ambitious and be willing to develop yourself as a scientist and as a business man or woman. No pain, no gain!”