Decades of war have had a huge impact on biodiversity and agriculture in Afghanistan. Efforts are on to tap farming knowledge and preserve ancient crop varieties that are key to securing the world's food supply.

Yesterday saw the announcement that foreign aid has defied economic and political gravity and reached a record high of $135bn in 2013. The news came as I headed off for a fascinating discussion on reforming the aid system at the ODI.

In the former Soviet Union, when officials thought a citizen was stirring up trouble, they simply shipped him off to the Gulag. Today, authoritarian leaders have become more subtle about reining in those who would challenge the government – especially nongovernmental organizations promoting democracy and greater civil rights.

Far from being rendered irrelevant by technological progress, where governments can communicate with one another directly on a need-to basis, diplomacy has become an increasingly critical instrument in an age of interdependence and globalisation. Responding to the ever-changing world around it, diplomacy has evolved and adopted new tools and techniques to respond to the new demands and expectations.

Far from being rendered irrelevant by technological progress, where governments can communicate with one another directly on a need-to basis, diplomacy has become an increasingly critical instrument in an age of interdependence and globalization.

Wang Jiarui, minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, stressed the importance of public diplomacy in China's overall diplomatic undertakings, adding that public diplomacy can help increase mutual trust and clarify misunderstandings between China and other countries.

The head of public diplomacy of the Foreign Ministry elaborating on hidden potentials in the two countries’ diplomatic and public communications fields, added, “A part of pursuing the public relations work in general atmosphere of the two countries, and a more important part of work is on the shoulders of the countries’ friendship associations and NGOs.”