Gao Xingming, Senior Advisor to the Platform’s Think Tank: Leveraging China’s opening-up platforms, Chongqing’s agricultural sector has great potential to expand overseas.

Source: Farmers’ Daily Client

Hu Kaiqiang, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Multifunctional Economic and Trade Platform and Deputy Director of the CPPCC Chongqing Municipal Committee’s Committee on Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Overseas Chinese Affairs, and Foreign Affairs, presented Gao Xingming with the appointment letter for Senior Advisor to the platform’s think tank.

Interviewee: Gao Xingming is a Senior Advisor to the Think Tank of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Multifunctional Economic and Trade Platform, and formerly served as the Deputy Director (First-Class Inspector) of the Chongqing Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Commission.

Strengthening international cooperation in agriculture is a major strategic decision made by the CPC Central Committee. Over the years, Document No. 1 has consistently called for and encouraged agricultural cooperation with other countries, promoted the “going global” of Chinese agriculture, fostered transnational agribusiness groups, and comprehensively elevated the level of international agricultural collaboration. How can Chongqing, leveraging its unique resource endowments, advantageous location and transport corridors, and established industrial base, deepen its engagement in opening up its agricultural sector to the world? Recently, our reporter conducted an exclusive interview with Gao Xingming, Senior Advisor to the Think Tank of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Multifunctional Economic and Trade Platform (hereinafter referred to as the “SCO Economic and Trade Platform”) and former Deputy Director (First‑Class Inspector) of the Chongqing Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Commission, who provided an in-depth analysis of the key priorities and fundamental pathways for Chongqing’s agricultural outreach.

Reporter: Mr. Gao, first of all, thank you for agreeing to this exclusive interview. I recall interviewing you several years ago on Chongqing’s efforts to accelerate the development of beautiful countryside and promote integrated urban–rural development. As an expert on the SCO economic and trade platform and a long-time researcher in regional economics and agricultural and rural development, we would like to ask you today to share your perspectives and insights on Chongqing’s agricultural “going global” strategy and on strengthening international cooperation in the agricultural sector.

Gao Xingming: Very well. Over the years, Chongqing’s agricultural and rural development, like the national trend, has reached a new level: the city has achieved self-sufficiency in grain, with ample supplies of vegetables, meat, and fruit, and the cultivation of distinctive agricultural brands has increasingly become a key driver of China’s strength as an agricultural powerhouse. Further strengthening Chongqing’s international cooperation in agriculture holds tremendous potential.

Reporter: From the perspectives of national strategy and locational advantages, what unique foundations and opportunities does Chongqing possess for developing international agricultural cooperation?

Gao Xingming: I believe Chongqing is uniquely positioned to develop international agricultural cooperation, benefiting from favorable conditions—advantages of time, place, and people.

First and foremost, Chongqing boasts a solid industrial foundation. Situated in a subtropical monsoon climate zone, the city enjoys distinct seasons, a long frost-free period, abundant rainfall, high vegetation cover, and an excellent ecological environment. Its rich natural resources make it ideally suited for cultivating a wide variety of crops, laying a robust groundwork for the development of specialty agriculture. As a result, the region consistently enjoys bountiful harvests, thriving local industries, and stable economic growth. In recent years, the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government have attached great importance to promoting the internationalization of agriculture and fostering integrated urban–rural development. They have introduced a series of incentive policies, cultivated and established numerous renowned, distinctive, high-quality, and innovative agricultural brands, and seen several product categories gain widespread acclaim both at home and abroad—providing strong industrial support for international agricultural cooperation.

Secondly, Chongqing enjoys a distinct locational strategic advantage. Although it is an inland city—neither coastal nor bordering any nation—it is well‑connected in all directions, serving as a pivotal hub for China’s opening-up to the outside world. As the departure point for the New International Land‑Sea Trade Corridor and the Chongqing–Europe Railway Express, Chongqing lies at the intersection of three major national strategies: the Belt and Road Initiative, the Yangtze Economic Belt, and the Chengdu–Chongqing Twin‑City Economic Circle. With its international logistics networks operating smoothly, Chongqing has established a unique platform for engaging directly with Eurasian markets and fostering multilateral agricultural cooperation, thereby seizing an unprecedented opportunity for agricultural diplomacy.

Reporter: As Chongqing advances the opening-up of its agricultural sector, how can it firmly safeguard the bottom line of food security and demonstrate its sense of responsibility and commitment?

Gao Xingming: Agriculture is the industry that ensures national stability, the cornerstone of steady economic and social development, and a solid source of confidence for forging a new chapter in China’s distinctive major-country diplomacy. Food is the foundation of human survival; food security is both a prerequisite for a country’s stable development and a shared concern of all nations.

For years, Chongqing has consistently placed food security at the forefront of agricultural development, rigorously protecting arable land, safeguarding the ecological environment, continuously enhancing soil fertility, cultivating superior crop varieties, and steadily boosting grain production capacity. As a result, both the area under grain cultivation and total grain output have continued to grow. By 2025, the city’s total grain‑sowing area is projected to reach 30.509 million mu, exceeding the national target by 309,000 mu; grain output is expected to hit 11.125 million tons, marking a 20‑year high since 2006 and surpassing the national target by 225,000 tons. Over recent years, the city has also fully leveraged its more than 5 million mu of fallow winter fields, vigorously promoting the cultivation of a single season of high‑end vegetables. Relying on the efficient and well‑connected China–Europe Railway Express corridor, Chongqing has worked to establish itself as a core winter‑vegetable supply hub along the route, effectively addressing the shortage of fresh produce during the winter months and simultaneously increasing the region’s foreign‑exchange earnings from agriculture.

On the front of opening up to the outside world, Chongqing has pursued a balanced approach that integrates domestic and international interests, fostering mutual benefit and shared prosperity. While ensuring its own food security, it has actively contributed to global efforts to safeguard people’s livelihoods, helping to fill the bowls, fruit platters, and meat trays of less developed countries and regions with Chongqing’s grain, fruits, and vegetables, as well as high-quality Chinese‑style livestock and poultry products—most notably those derived from Rongchang pigs.

Reporter: In your view, under the national strategy of building a strong brand nation, how can Chongqing leverage its distinctive agricultural products to enhance its profile as a leader in international agricultural cooperation?

Gao Xingming: Agriculture is a key sector for enhancing a nation’s international influence and voice. Chongqing will comprehensively implement its Brand‑Driven National Strategy, focusing on strengthening an export‑oriented agricultural branding system. The city will prioritize the development of model export bases and enterprises for agricultural products, support local agribusinesses in fully integrating into global supply chains, steadily expand exports of competitive agricultural commodities, and accelerate the internationalization of major agricultural brands. Efforts will be concentrated on cultivating a portfolio of flagship products with global appeal, including Shizhu Coptis, Fuling Pickled Mustard Tubers, Xiushan Honeysuckle, Pengshui Golden‑Thread Sweet Potato Noodles, Fengjie Navel Oranges, Liangping Pomelos, Tongnan Lemons, Rongchang Summer Cloth, Yongchuan Xiu Ya Tea, Banan Yin Zhen Tea, and Nanchuan Square Bamboo Shoots—each representing distinctive regional specialties. These specialty agricultural brands boast deep heritage and superior quality; some trace their origins back over a millennium, while others rank among the world’s top producers, enjoying exceptionally high market credibility. The member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization exhibit strong agricultural complementarity: Central Asian countries possess vast tracts of land and abundant grain and livestock resources, yet they lack access to high‑quality fruit and vegetable varieties, advanced modern agricultural technologies, and sophisticated processing equipment. By contrast, Chongqing leverages its strengths in mountainous‑region agricultural expertise, deep‑processing capabilities, and a robust cold‑chain logistics network, with particularly prominent advantages in specialty fruits and vegetables as well as medicinal herbs and cash crops. By fully capitalizing on the SCO’s economic and trade platform and its outward‑opening advantages, Chongqing will lead the way in taking its premium brands global, setting a benchmark for China’s agricultural cooperation abroad and showcasing the city’s robust capacity for green, sustainable agricultural development.

Reporter: In your view, how can Chongqing’s agricultural sector effectively coordinate both “attracting investment” and “going global” in its efforts to open up to the outside world?

Gao Xingming: High‑level international cooperation in agriculture should uphold the principles of two‑way openness, leveraging each other’s strengths to address weaknesses, and achieving mutual benefit and win‑win outcomes. In terms of scientifically importing advanced practices, we must ground our efforts in the needs of agricultural modernization, embrace diversity, draw on the best from around the world, and proactively learn from and introduce cutting‑edge agricultural technologies, specialized equipment, and innovative development concepts. We should comprehensively deepen international cooperation across multiple domains—agricultural investment, trade, science and technology, and animal and plant quarantine—to address industry shortcomings and enhance the quality and efficiency of development.

In pursuing a prudent approach to international engagement, it is essential to embrace the principles of outward‑looking development and export‑driven growth, while vigorously supporting domestic agricultural enterprises in expanding their cross‑border operations and establishing overseas production bases, processing facilities, and warehousing and logistics infrastructure. We will continue to deepen agricultural trade cooperation with countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative and the Chongqing–Xinjiang–Europe corridor, steadily optimize the import‑export mix, and maintain overall foreign trade stability. This will help create a favorable external environment for the city’s modernization of agriculture and rural areas, and inject robust Chongqing‑specific momentum into the nation’s efforts to forge a new development paradigm and open up a new chapter in distinctive major-country diplomacy.

Reporter: How can we leverage Chongqing’s unique advantages to successfully organize agricultural exhibitions and trade fairs and enhance our international voice?

Gao Xingming: Agriculture is a key pillar for China to deepen strategic consensus with countries around the world, advance economic and trade cooperation, and build global partnerships. Chongqing will steadfastly uphold the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, leveraging the advantages of the SCO’s economic and trade platform to strengthen and enhance its agricultural flagship events. It will make full use of multilateral and bilateral cooperation mechanisms to continuously bolster international exchanges in agricultural technology and industrial collaboration. Actively seeking support from national ministries and commissions, Chongqing will take the lead in formulating green‑industry technical standards for agriculture, initiate the establishment of an Agricultural Green Development Industry Alliance among Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states and Belt and Road partner countries and regions, host a high‑level forum on green and sustainable agricultural development along the Belt and Road, and adopt and release the Chongqing Initiative on Green Agricultural Development. Furthermore, it will refine and institutionalize a regularized agricultural diplomacy framework—“bilateral engagement driving multilateralism, and multilateralism reinforcing bilateral ties”—and forge a diplomatic model characterized by coordinated interaction among diverse stakeholders. By proactively engaging in global governance of agricultural livelihoods, Chongqing will continue to contribute its strength and propose innovative solutions to advance green and sustainable agricultural development worldwide.

Reporter: This year marks the first year of implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan. During this period, how will Chongqing systematically advance and ensure the effective implementation of international agricultural cooperation?

Gao Xingming: Chongqing has incorporated the promotion of agricultural international cooperation into its 14th Five-Year Plan, with coordinated planning and deployment at all levels and across all departments. Authorities at every tier have attached great importance to this endeavor, adopting a systematic approach that provides policy guidance, technological empowerment, financial support, and comprehensive innovation assistance. Throughout the city, agricultural international cooperation will remain firmly aligned with the national strategic agenda, serving the new development paradigm of dual circulation. Chongqing will make full use of national-level cooperation platforms such as China–ASEAN, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation, leveraging in particular the resources of the SCO Economic and Trade Platform established in Chongqing. By precisely aligning with the green agricultural development plans of countries along the Belt and Road, Chongqing will build bridges for international collaboration through agricultural trade, actively tap emerging markets in Belt and Road partner nations, continuously expand areas of cooperation, and refine multilateral and bilateral cooperation mechanisms, thereby fully harnessing Chongqing’s pivotal role in opening up inland agriculture to the world.

Reporter: Finally, could you share your vision for Chongqing’s future in developing international agricultural cooperation? What kind of aspirations do you foresee achieving?

Gao Xingming: As a key hub of western China’s opening-up, Chongqing is fully positioned to serve as a model for international agricultural cooperation in inland regions. Building on its distinctive mountainous agricultural foundation and leveraging the strategic advantages of its transport corridors and platforms, Chongqing can both export its high-quality agri‑products to global markets, thereby supporting national food security and the broader agenda of agricultural openness, and, through agriculture as a bridge, foster people-to-people bonds between China and the countries along the New International Land‑Sea Trade Corridor, the China–Europe Railway Express routes, and the Belt and Road Initiative. In doing so, Chongqing can become a pivotal gateway for western China’s agricultural cooperation with these nations. Moreover, Chongqing should capitalize on major occasions such as China’s Farmers’ Harvest Festival and draw upon the invaluable legacy of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms—timeless cultural treasures passed down from our ancestors—to organize international agricultural exchange events. By expanding the Harvest Festival beyond a domestic celebration into an outward‑facing platform, Chongqing can showcase the unique strengths of China’s mountainous agriculture and the achievements of rural development in the region, quietly fostering greater understanding and collaboration across borders.

Reporter: Thank you!

Author: Gu Jiangbing, All-Media Reporter for the Farmers’ Daily