On October 13, the 2025 World Agrifood Innovation Conference (WAFI 2025) opened in Pinggu District, Beijing. Nearly 800 scientists, entrepreneurs, and specialists from over 90 nations and areas gathered to debate the event of a resilient agrifood system, exploring options to world challenges and pathways for sustainable development below key themes similar to South-South cooperation, protected agriculture, controlled-environment agriculture, and sensible livestock farming.
Experts on the convention emphasised that the worldwide agrifood system is dealing with mounting pressures from intensifying local weather change, geopolitical instability, and steady inhabitants development. Building a safe and steady resilient agrifood system is crucial for world meals safety and the sustainable growth of humanity.
Statistics present that China feeds almost 20% of the world’s inhabitants with solely about 9% of the world’s arable land and 6% of its freshwater sources. Scientific and technological innovation has turn out to be a vital driver of agricultural development. In latest years, areas throughout China have leveraged their distinctive useful resource endowments and technological strengths to advertise ecological, clever, and industrial transformation in agriculture by way of various approaches — together with industry-academia-research collaboration, superior breeding applied sciences, sensible cultivation, specialty {industry} growth, and ecological enchancment.
“Innovation in science and technology is key to implementing the holistic food concept and building a resilient agrifood system,” stated Zhong Denghua, Party Secretary of China Agricultural University. “China continues to advance scientific research, talent development, and the commercialization of agricultural technologies, injecting strong momentum into the modernization of its agriculture and contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to global agrifood resilience.”
© World Agrifood Innovation Conference
At the opening ceremony, a number of landmark initiatives had been unveiled, together with the upgraded Phase 2.0 growth plan for Beijing’s “Agricultural Zhongguancun” Core Zone and China Agricultural University’s Shennong Large Model 3.0.
“As the core zone of Beijing’s ‘Agricultural Zhongguancun,’ Pinggu has consistently prioritized scientific and technological innovation as its central driving force,”stated Peng Shi, Deputy Mayor of Pinggu District, Beijing. “We have achieved a series of notable outcomes in synthetic biology, key technology transfer, and enterprise clustering.” To date, Pinggu has attracted main agrifood enterprises similar to Beijing Capital Agribusiness & Foods Group, Bayer, and Molbreeding; established 117 “Doctor Farms”; drawn in 411 agricultural specialists; and facilitated the applying of greater than 100 scientific and technological achievements.
International contributors expressed their eagerness to deepen and broaden collaboration with Chinese counterparts in areas similar to fashionable seed {industry}, sensible agriculture, clever agricultural tools, and industry-academia integration, aiming to collectively improve world meals safety and co-create a resilient future for the agrifood system.
The convention is co-hosted by China Agricultural University, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Pinggu District People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It will run by way of October 15.
Source: 2025 World Agrifood Innovation Conference