From 23 to 27 April 2025, DCZ experts Michaela Boehme and Ahmatjan Rouzi participated in the World Food Forum Launching Week held in and around Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The event focused on key themes such as empowering young agricultural entrepreneurs, fostering brand innovation, and promoting rural revitalization. The week served as a precursor to the annual World Food Forum (WFF) at the FAO headquarters in Rome, bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders from across the globe.
The event was organized by FAO China in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and saw high-level participants, including Liu Xianwu, Vice President of CAAS, Carlos Watson, Chief of Private Sector Partnerships and UN Collaboration at FAO, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), diplomatic missions, and leading ag-tech companies such as Pinduoduo.
Background: Advancing rural development in China
China is making significant strides in modernizing its rural areas, aiming to narrow the gap between urban and rural regions. This effort includes improving living conditions, creating new income channels, and modernizing agriculture. The World Food Forum Launching Week sought to contribute to these objectives by exploring the roles of digital technologies, young entrepreneurs, and agricultural heritage in driving rural revitalization.
Digital technologies for rural revitalization
The opening day focused on the role of digital technologies in rural revitalization. Speeches from Liu Xianwu and Carlos Watson set the tone for the discussions. Mr. Kong Liang from the Center for Agro-product Safety and Quality at MARA emphasized the importance of digital tools in enhancing consumer trust in food products. Zeng Hao, Senior Director of Public Affairs at Pinduoduo, highlighted the company’s 10 billion RMB funding initiative aimed at connecting farmers with consumer markets. Pinduoduo’s platform currently supports 16 million Chinese farmers, with its innovation efforts incentivizing 100,000 entrepreneurs to return to rural areas and establish agricultural businesses.
European representatives Daniel Brooker from UK Research and Innovation and Karel van Bommel, Agricultural Counselor of the Netherlands, discussed opportunities for digital agriculture cooperation between China and their countries. DCZ Deputy Managing Director Michaela Boehme presented research from Germany on how digital tools can reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint.
Another highlight was the pitch session featuring winning agricultural entrepreneurs from Pinduoduo’s Smart Agriculture Competition. These entrepreneurs utilize digital technologies to produce high-quality fruits and vegetables in controlled environments and high-tech greenhouses.
Later, experts visited the Institute of Urban Agriculture at CAAS, where advanced technologies for plant production in vertical systems and controlled environments are being developed, including speed breeding technologies that shorten breeding cycles.
Leveraging agricultural heritage
A key theme of the week was leveraging agricultural heritage to promote rural development. During a roundtable discussion, experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, China Agricultural University, Tsinghua University, and others explored how traditional agricultural systems such as mulberry-dyke and fishpond farming or integrated duck-rice farming cultures, can inform modern farming practices and boost economic development in rural areas. Ahmatjan Rouzi of DCZ participated in the roundtable, presenting insights from the Sino-German Agrobiodiversity Network.
Experts discussed how environmental protection could serve as a driver for economic development, a view increasingly reflected in Chinese policy. Successful examples from villages in provinces such as Zhejiang, Anhui, Henan, and Sichuan showcased how traditional agricultural systems are being modernized to improve livelihoods.
Key takeaways from the roundtable included the importance of programs such as FAO’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in fostering rural development. China leads the world with the most GIAHS sites, followed by Japan and Korea. The experts also emphasized the value of building recognizable brands, including through Geographical Indications (GIs), to promote local products, cultural services, and rural livelihoods. A participatory approach, involving local communities, was seen as crucial for ensuring they benefit from rural development initiatives.
Cooperatives as model for rural development
Another highlight of the Launching Week was a visit to the Mengdingshan Academy of Cooperative Development in Ya’an City, located about 100 kilometers south of Chengdu. Founded in 2021 with the support of the China Rural Development Foundation, the local government, Tsinghua University, and FAO China, the academy trains leaders of rural cooperatives to help build local value chains and jointly market agricultural products. To date, over 4,000 cooperative leaders have been trained.
Experts from Zhejiang University, Beijing Normal University, and leaders of agricultural heritage systems shared their experiences in developing local brands from agricultural products. Michaela Boehme of DCZ presented examples from the Sino-German Agrobiodiversity Network, demonstrating how heirloom crops and farmers’ seeds can be valorized for rural development.
Throughout the launching week, agricultural companies with innovative products, such as Yunnan coffee beans, Sichuan yak meat snacks, and Chongqing blueberry health foods, also highlighted the potential of cooperatives to drive local brand development.
The week also featured site visits to rural areas around Chengdu, including the tea culture system in Mengdingshan and agro-tourism pilot villages in Pujiang County.
The Launching Week addressed key themes that will set the stage for the World Food Forum in Rome, highlighting innovative approaches to rural revitalization and the empowerment of young entrepreneurs.
