The International Conference on Brand Agriculture Development, hosted by the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), convened in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, on April 10. Tao Huaiying, Chief Veterinary Officer of MARA, attended the conference and delivered remarks. 

The conference noted that developing brand agriculture is a key instrument for promoting high-quality agricultural development and building up China’s strength in agriculture. Recent years has witnessed China’s solid progress and positive results in advancing brand agriculture development. Going forward, efforts should focus on building brands through quality, standards, opening-up, and credibility. The goal is to elevate Chinese agricultural brands to international prominence, and to transform local specialties into premium global offerings that command a value-added and fair-market price. 

The conference outlined four initiatives to take Chinese agricultural brands global: 1) solidify quality as the “lifeline” of brand; 2) highlight “green and ecological” as the basic characters of brand; 3) promote innovation as new drivers of brand; and 4) create an open and cooperative brand network. 

The conference emphasized the need to strengthen specialized brand operation services, and develop standardized quality certification, to continuously enhance the credibility and competitiveness of agricultural brands. 

Themed “Advancing Agricultural Brands Internationally, Sharing Premium Quality and Value”, the conference brought together representatives from the FAO Representation Office in China, envoys of various countries, as well as domestic and international enterprises, experts, and scholars, to engage in in-depth discussions on brand agriculture development, agro-trade promotion, and international cooperation.