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. Chen Lang, Vice President of China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation, attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered a speech at the Keynote Speech.
Chen Lang, Vice President of China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation, delivered a speech
Esteemed leaders, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, and friends,
I am delighted to gather with you all in the beautiful city of Shanghai for the Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum to discuss the theme of ‘Sci-Technological Innovation Empowers the Food and Agricultural Industry, Ensuring High-Quality Supply.’ On behalf of Wuliangye Yibin Co., Ltd., and entrusted by Mr. Zeng Congqin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Wuliangye, I extend our heartfelt gratitude for your long-term support and interest in the development of Wuliangye.
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed ‘accelerating the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy.’ On October 18th, President Xi Jinping emphasized at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that ‘China will continue to implement the Belt and Road Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan,’ reflecting China’s high regard for scientific and technological innovation. Currently, as a new round of global technological revolution and industrial transformation is vigorously emerging, the food industry also needs to quickly adapt to this trend, empowering industry innovation and development with technology. As a quintessential representative of Chinese liquor, Wuliangye has both preserved tradition and created new frontiers in technology, using technological advancements to drive high-quality development and becoming the only enterprise in the industry to win the National Quality Award four times, ranking 59th in the ‘2023 Global Brand Value Top 500’ and 15th in the ‘2023 China Brand Value Top 500.’
From Wuliangye’s development practice, I believe that to achieve innovative development in the food industry, we need to adhere to ‘three persistence and three enhancements’:
First, persist in innovation-driven strategies to continuously enhance the support of technology for the food industry. China’s food manufacturing industry, with a large market scale and steady growth rate, has grown from 4.27 trillion yuan in 2018 to 5.31 trillion yuan in 2022, with an average annual compound growth rate of 5.6%. To ensure this ‘huge volume’ possesses ‘solid quality,’ it is indispensable to have the strong empowerment of technology and robust scientific research capabilities. The food industry should place technological innovation in a prominent position, accelerate the construction of innovation platforms, cultivate innovative talents vigorously, increase R&D funding, conduct in-depth basic research, and actively explore the transformation of scientific and technological achievements to provide strong support for the high-quality development of the food industry. In recent years, Wuliangye has vigorously implemented an innovation-driven development strategy, investing more than 70 billion yuan in R&D over the past three years. We have established 13 national and provincial-level innovation platforms, won more than 20 provincial and ministerial-level scientific and technological progress awards, and taken the lead or participated in formulating more than 50 national and local standards. We have formed an innovation team led by experts like academicians Sun Baoguo and Chen Jian, and Professor Xu Yan, continuously strengthening our development momentum.
Second, persist in market orientation to continuously enhance the adaptability of technology to the consumer market. From the trend of China's health food market scale, it was 650 billion yuan in 2015, exceeded 800 billion yuan in 2020, and is expected to surpass 1.1 trillion yuan in 2025, with an annual compound growth rate of over 5%, indicating an increasing demand for healthy food among consumers. Furthermore, according to relevant statistics, over 70% of consumers prioritize taste and nutritional health when purchasing food, showing that "flavor and health dual-orientation" is becoming a trend in the food industry. The food industry should be market demand-oriented, seize opportunities with large consumer demand for health and flavor, increase research on health mechanisms and food flavors, form a positive interaction between technological supply and market demand, and meet the people's needs for a high-quality, beautiful life with more outstanding products. In recent years, Wuliangye has adhered to the dual guidance of flavor and health. Focusing on the two important aspects of liquor flavor and health factors, we have arranged more than 20 collaborative research projects. In Wuliangye liquor, we have discovered nearly 3000 substances, including cyclic dipeptides, organic acids, phenols, and other bioactive components, all beneficial to human health.
Third, persist in quality as the foundation to continuously enhance the guarantee of technology for food safety. More and more countries are using technological innovation to optimize quality management systems, further ensuring food safety. In China, the ‘Opinions on Deepening Reform and Strengthening Food Safety Work’ issued in 2019 incorporated food safety into the national science and technology plan, aiming to strengthen the full-chain quality management of food safety through scientific and technological innovation and thereby improve the capability to detect and prevent food safety risks. The food industry should fully recognize the importance of technological innovation in quality management, using technology to continuously optimize the quality control system of enterprises throughout the entire process of raw materials, production, packaging, and transportation, building a solid foundation for the everlasting and sustainable development of food enterprises. In recent years, Wuliangye has insisted on using technological innovation to promote quality upgrades and ensure food safety, establishing a ‘from a single seed to a drop of fine liquor’ full life cycle quality control system, achieving ‘forward traceability, backward source tracing, and controllable risk’ for products, ensuring that every bottle of liquor ‘comes with evidence and leaves a trace.’ This year, we successfully entered the candidate list for the nomination award of the fifth China Quality Award, the only Chinese liquor enterprise to do so.
The high-quality development of the food industry requires our joint efforts. We sincerely hope to work together with food enterprises to better empower the food industry with the power of technology, truly safeguarding the people’s ‘safety of every bite of food.’
Finally, I wish this event a great success! I wish you all good health, harmony, and happiness! Thank you, everyone!
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.
