FAO Director-General wraps up China visit, calls for technology-driven agrifood transformation

Hangzhou/Shanghai, China – FAO Director-General QU Dongyu has wrapped up his visit to China, highlighting the transformative potential of science, technology and artificial intelligence to build more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems across the Asia-Pacific region.

During his visit to Hangzhou, the Director-General explored how innovation and technology are being applied across agriculture, food production and other sectors, while emphasizing the need to ensure that technological progress helps close – rather than widen – digital, rural and gender divides.

On Tuesday he spoke at the 11th APEC Food Security Ministerial Meeting and highlighted the Asia-Pacific region’s progress in reducing hunger while calling for a concerted effort to respond more effectively to changing diets, climate pressures, resource constraints and rural inequalities. 

He stressed the importance of science, innovation and digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, biotechnology and precision agriculture, in accelerating agrifood systems transformation and ensuring that its benefits reach rural communities.

On Monday, the Director-General signed on behalf of FAO an Memorandum of Understanding with Hunan Agricultural University strengthening cooperation in food security, sustainable agricultural development, digital agriculture, and South-South and Triangular Cooperation.

The Director-General’s programme in Hangzhou also provided an opportunity to see innovation and sustainable agriculture on the ground.

He visited, Jingshan Village and the Yuhang Qianxi High-Efficiency Ecological Agriculture Demonstration Park, where he learned about local approaches to agricultural development, ecological farming and rural revitalization.

He also visited the Zhejiang Camel Jiuyu Organic Food Co. Ltd., where he learned about the region’s matcha industry and the development of high-value agricultural products. He commended the company’s innovative spirit and pointed out the importance to embrace AI and combine traditional culture with modern concept of marketing.

On a tour of a leading Chinese robotics company - Unitree Robotics - he explored the company’s robotics technologies, including its humanoid robots and robotic dogs. He also exchanged views with the management on application of robotics in agriculture.

The visits underscored the increasingly important role of technology in shaping the future of food and agriculture – from the farm and processing industries to robotics and artificial intelligence.

The Director-General also visited the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences and held a courtesy meeting with He Qing, Vice Mayor of Shanghai. During the visit, the Director-General was briefed on the Academy's research and development in edible mushroom technology, as well as its application for designation as an FAO Reference Centre for Edible Mushrooms. He highly commended the Academy for its achievements in the development of the entire industrial chain of edible mushroom technology, underscored the immense potential of edible mushrooms in the field of functional foods and encouraged the Academy to build on its comparative advantages in this domain to attain even greater success.

Throughout his China visit, the Director-General emphasized that innovation must ultimately serve people and communities, helping countries produce more nutritious, healthy and even function food sustainably, create opportunities in rural areas and make agrifood systems more resilient and inclusive.