Published by ChinaMNC · Huayin

Yangling Agricultural High-Tech Fair and SCO Agricultural Expo Open: What Foreign Agribusiness Founders Should Know

A practical briefing for foreign founders on the 33rd China Yangling Agricultural High-Tech Fair and the 2026 SCO Agricultural Expo, including themes, exhibitor profiles, venues and why the events matter for agrifood companies operating in China.

Two agricultural expos open in Yangling

On 25 October, the 33rd China Yangling Agricultural High-Tech Fair and the 2026 SCO Agricultural Expo opened in the Yangling Demonstration Zone. For foreign founders building agrifood, agritech or agricultural-trading businesses in China, the opening session set out policy priorities and international participation that are worth tracking before planning a market entry or expansion.

The opening ceremony was addressed by Wang Guangqian, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Chairman of the 11th National Committee of the China Association for Science and Technology, who delivered a keynote speech and declared the events open. Zhao Yide, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee, gave remarks. Governor Zhao Gang presided over the ceremony. The Governor of Chuy Oblast in Kyrgyzstan, Ashirbayev, attended, along with Xu Xinrong, Chairman of the Provincial CPPCC, and Xing Shanping, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee.

Speeches were also delivered by Pan Wenbo, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Mi Dihong, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation; Mostafa, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation of Egypt; and Wang Li, Vice Chairman of the Government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Who attended

The ceremony drew representatives from national ministries and commissions, provincial and municipal governments, universities, and enterprises. International participation included agriculture vice ministers and senior officials from Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Cambodia, Burundi and Pakistan, as well as ambassadors from Belarus and the Maldives, a deputy governor of Kyzylorda Oblast in Kazakhstan, representatives of the China-Central Asia mechanism and the Eurasian Economic Union, and a deputy director from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

For founders, the presence of so many agriculture ministries and international organisations signals that the events function as a platform for cross-border agricultural cooperation, not only a domestic trade show.

Policy signals relevant to agritech founders

Wang Guangqian's speech outlined priorities that connect closely to the regulatory and policy environment foreign agritech founders will encounter:

• Seed industry revitalisation: accelerating the selection and promotion of breakthrough varieties and advancing the industrialisation of biological breeding.
• Technology extension: reforming and building the grassroots agricultural technology extension system so that research results reach villages and households.
• Scale and smallholders: developing appropriately scaled agricultural operations and linking smallholders with modern agriculture.
• Green and low-carbon farming: promoting green production and water-saving irrigation technology and developing ecological, low-carbon agriculture.
• Processing and value chains: advancing deep processing of agricultural products and whole-chain development, with the aim of building agriculture into a modern large-scale industry.
• Dryland focus: maintaining the approach of core demonstration, driving the arid regions and serving the whole country, and strengthening modern agriculture cooperation with countries in the region.

He also referenced the recent Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which called for accelerating agricultural and rural modernisation and advancing rural revitalisation, and this year's No. 1 Central Document, which calls for developing agricultural new quality productive forces suited to local conditions and integrating artificial intelligence with agricultural development. Founders in precision agriculture, biological breeding, irrigation technology or food processing may find these themes reflected in local investment priorities.

What Shaanxi is offering

Zhao Yide said Shaanxi is pursuing the goals of building a strong agricultural province and a national team in distinctive modern agriculture, using the two expos as a catalyst. The province is building strategic science and technology capacity in agriculture and improving mechanisms for university-local government-enterprise collaborative commercialisation. Looking toward the 15th Five-Year Plan period, he said the province wants to use the expos as a link to deepen exchanges and cooperation, build bridges for science and technology interaction, open paths for industrial collaboration and strengthen the foundation of food security.

Event details founders can use

At the opening, Sun Chuanfan, Director of the China Rural Technology Development Center, released the 2026 China Dryland Agricultural Technology Development Report. Keynote speeches were given by Zhai Huqu, former President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Wei Houkai, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and researcher at its Rural Development Institute; and Bai Shanlin, Senior Vice Chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group's agribusiness and food business in China.

The Yangling fair

• Theme: New Quality Productive Forces, New Future of Agriculture.
• Duration: five days.
• Theme province: Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Theme city: Yulin.
• Exhibition format: four sections - indoor, field, cloud and overseas exhibitions - with total exhibition area of 140,000 square metres.
• Side events: seed industry innovation forum, agricultural science and technology forum, rural revitalisation forum, and matchmaking between production and sales under the Hundred Counties, Hundred Products initiative.

The SCO Agricultural Expo

• Theme: Deepening Practical Cooperation, Drawing a Development Blueprint.
• Participation: 27 SCO countries exhibiting, with Egypt as the theme country.
• Specialised exhibitions: SCO national agriculture exhibition, agricultural high-tech achievements exhibition, and cross-border commodity consumer experience exhibition.
• Events: SCO modern agriculture development roundtable and an agricultural cooperation and development conference.

Practical takeaways for foreign founders

If you are considering registering a company or expanding operations in China's agricultural sector, this event profile suggests several practical steps. First, map your product or service against the policy themes above - biological breeding, water-saving irrigation, AI in agriculture, deep processing and cold-chain-linked whole-chain development - because these are the areas where provincial and national programmes are concentrated. Second, note that Shaanxi is actively promoting university-local government-enterprise collaboration, which may be relevant if you are seeking research partners or pilot sites in dryland and semi-arid agriculture. Third, the SCO expo's cross-border commodity exhibition and the presence of agriculture ministries from Central Asia, Southeast Asia and elsewhere indicate channels for cross-border trade and partnership discussions.

Exhibitions such as these are also useful for early-stage market research: they allow founders to meet distributors, research institutes and local government representatives in one place before committing to a legal entity, site selection or capital investment. Any registration, licensing or tax decision should be checked against current local requirements and confirmed with professional advisers.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.