On November 6th, the 16th Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum was successfully held in Shanghai as a concurrent event of the 6th China International Import Expo. The forum was hosted by the State Administration for Market Regulation and co-organized by the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, the Development Research Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum. attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered a speech.
Ma Xiangjie, President of Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development Co., Ltd., attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered a speech
Esteemed leaders, distinguished guests, and friends,
Today, as we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, we hold the Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum, an event of great significance for promoting agricultural cooperation and exchange along the routes. On this occasion, I, on behalf of Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development Co., Ltd. and Chairman Wan Long, extend warm congratulations on the convening of this forum and heartfelt thanks to those who have long cared for, supported, and assisted Shuanghui.
Since the reform and opening, technology has propelled over 40 years of development in China’s meat industry, playing a crucial role in ensuring the quantity and quality of meat for the people.
Looking at China’s meat production, we see a growth from 10 million tons in the 1980s to 50 million tons in the mid-1990s, and 93 million tons in 2022. The per capita meat consumption increased from less than 10 kilograms in 1980 to 66 kilograms in 2022, a sixfold increase. The variety of meat products is complete, dazzling, and continuously improving in quality. The people have moved from being able to eat their fill to eating well and with confidence, continually enhancing their sense of gain, happiness, and security. The development and application of science and technology have played an important role in the growth of China’s meat industry.
1. The promotion and application of fresh chilled meat technology have improved the quality and safety of meat products. This is the most widely beneficial scientific application for consumers over the past 40 years. The new industrial model of ‘cold chain production, sales, distribution, and chain operation’ has changed China’s traditional meat-selling methods, providing consumers with healthy, nutritious, and safe meat products.
2. The introduction, assimilation, and re-innovation of advanced international technology, equipment, and processes have significantly accelerated the automation, informatization, and intellectualizing of China’s meat industry. Large industries replace small workshops, and advanced industrialized, large-scale, automated production lines replace traditional workshop-style production. Many excellent meat processing enterprises have equipped themselves with advanced domestic and foreign technologies and equipment, aligning their technical equipment and management levels with international standards.
3. Advanced inspection and testing technologies, equipment, instruments, reagents, and standard methods for meat have provided scientific and quick technical means to identify risks and assess quality. The popularization of preservation technology, new packaging materials and terminal cold chain facilities have provided technical and hardware support for the large-scale distribution of meat.
4. The application and promotion of modern technology have enabled the integrated development of agriculture, animal husbandry, and the meat industry. The integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries provides consumers with a rich variety of ‘meat, eggs, dairy, vegetables, and grains,’ achieving high-quality development across the entire agricultural product chain.
Looking back at the development of meat technology in China, it has been 40 years of innovation, exploration, and continuous growth and expansion. The achievements are evident, and the prospects are broad.
The 40 years of development of Shuanghui have taught us that the key to enterprise development is to leverage the power of technology, using advanced technologies to drive industry upgrades, especially in today’s rapid development of informatization and intellectualizing. Only by utilizing new technologies, new energies, new intelligence, and new models can the real economy gain new advantages and achieve new developments in the new economic era.
In the future, Shuanghui will adhere to the ‘industry + technology’ development strategy, using the power of technology to lead the meat industry’s green and sustainable development.
1. We will play the leading role of a leading enterprise, continuing to specialize and refine our work. Utilizing WH Group's global resource integration capability, we will introduce good resources, advanced technologies, equipment, processes, products, and management from the international market to promote better development in the meat industry.
2. We will accelerate product innovation and structural adjustment, achieving a deep integration of Eastern and Western products and dietary cultures. Relying on our technological R&D advantages in China, the U.S., and Europe, we will develop Eastern and Western-style, middle, and high-end products, bringing them to families and dining tables, and enriching the daily meals of the people.
3. We will accelerate process innovation to improve efficiency. We will vigorously carry out construction and transformation in automation, informatization, and intellectualizing, applying the world's most advanced technology, equipment, and intelligent manufacturing to the enterprise to enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry.
4. We will strengthen safety management and adhere to sustainable development. We will increase investment in food safety and environmental protection, ensuring food safety, environmental protection, legal safety, building a good food industry ecological chain, and adhering to green, safe, and sustainable development.
5. We will utilize information technology to build a digital Shuanghui. We will promote the rapid deployment and application of digital technology in the enterprise, improve a more characteristic digital ecosystem, transform the traditional industry into intelligent and digital, and achieve industrial upgrading.
Finally, I wish the Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum great success!
The theme of the forum is, ‘Deepening the Belt and Road Cooperation in Agriculture and Food: Jointly Creating a Better Life for Humanity.’ Leaders from the State Administration for Market Regulation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Health Commission, General Administration of Customs, as well as leaders from Shanghai, Henan, Hainan, and other provincial governments, representatives of provincial market supervision departments, representatives of relevant United Nations organizations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and embassies of South Africa, the Netherlands, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Bulgaria, Tanzania, Senegal, among others, along with over 400 delegates from domestic and international enterprises, participated in the forum. Guests collectively deliberated on agricultural cooperation and food industry development, contributing insights and strategies for the high-quality development of agriculture and food industries in the Belt and Road Initiative, highlighting the role of the forum as a platform for policy interpretation.
2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative and the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum. Over the past decade, the forum has been successfully held for 15 sessions within the framework of the National Food Safety Publicity Week and the China International Import Expo. The forum has solidly promoted high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road, extensively conducted exchanges and cooperation in the agricultural and food industries, played a significant role in the development and safety of agricultural food industries in the countries along the route, and facilitated smooth international trade among the Belt and Road countries.
