On the morning of May 9th,2024, the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction project of IMU's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Sheep Performance Testing Station (Hohhot Testing Station) was held in Helingeer County. Zhang Huazhen, a member of the Party Group and Deputy Director of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department; Wu Limin, the IMU President; Qiao Biao, the IMU Deputy Party Secretary; Liu Yongbin, the IMU Vice President and project leader, attended the ceremony. Also present were Wang Jialin from the Seed Industry Management Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department; Li Shuping, Chairman of Inner Mongolia Lianyou Construction Group Co., Ltd.; heads of relevant functional departments and colleges of IMU; project team members; representatives of teachers and students; and corporate representatives. The ceremony was hosted by Qiao Biao.

Wu Limin pointed out that the seed industry is the "core chip" of agriculture and animal husbandry, a national strategic and fundamental core industry. IMU has been approved to construct the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Sheep Performance Testing Station (Hohhot Testing Station) is an important measure to implement the national modern seed industry enhancement project. It is an important support for promoting the "five tasks" of the autonomous region and the development plan of seed industry revitalization in the autonomous region, an important grasp for helping the autonomous region's science and technology "breakthrough" project and developing new quality productivity according to local conditions, and it is a major event of great significance to promote the protection and development of the autonomous region's seed industry resources.

Zhang Huazhen fully affirmed the scientific research work of seed industry innovation of IMU and the series of scientific research achievements, hoping that IMU will continue to demonstrate its mission and responsibility to assist in the revitalization of the autonomous region's seed industry, solve the difficult problem of "cutthroat issue" of high-quality mutton sheep sources, cultivate and breed more excellent varieties, accelerate the promotion of high-quality development of seed industry in autonomous region, and provide strong support for the construction of an important national agricultural and livestock product production base.

Chairman Li Shuping made a statement on behalf of Inner Mongolia Lianyou Construction Group Co., Ltd.

Qiao Biao announced the official start of the construction project of the sheep performance testing station (Hohhot Testing Station) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the attending leaders and company representatives jointly laid the foundation for the project.

After the launch ceremony, Zhang Huazhen and his team conducted research on the Grassland Livestock Germplasm Innovation and Breeding Base of IMU. Liu Yongbin accompanied the research, and relevant leaders from the IMU's Science and Technology Department, Technology Transfer Center, and College of Life Sciences participated in the research.

The Agricultural and Rural Affairs Department's Sheep Performance Testing Station (Hohhot Testing Station) is located in China Cloud Valley - Helingeer County, situated at the Inner Mongolia University's Grassland Livestock Germplasm Innovation and Breeding Base. The total investment of the testing station project is 15 million yuan, with a total area of 2902.34 square meters. It is also equipped with 33 sets of sheep performance testing instruments and related infrastructure projects.The Sheep Performance Testing Station serves as a quality supervision, inspection, and testing platform for breeding sheep, primarily utilizing advanced equipment and technology to conduct comprehensive evaluations of breeding sheep's growth performance, reproductive performance, mutton quality, genetic genes, and overall genetic performance. It also carries out biotechnology research applications and research on genetic standards for mutton sheep breeds. Upon completion of the Sheep Performance Testing Station project, it will provide a scientific basis for the protection and development of mutton sheep breed resources, offer supervision and decision-making references for industry authorities, and supply technical support and services for breeding sheep production enterprises (farms) in selection and breeding. This will improve the construction of the superior breeding sheep breeding system project, accelerate the process of protecting and developing mutton sheep breed resources, enhance the level of breeding technology and the coverage rate of superior breeds, promote the large-scale and standardized breeding construction of sheep in Inner Mongolia, increase farmers' income, advance the construction of a new socialist countryside, and serve the whole country with a focus on Inner Mongolia and facing North China.