The 2024 World Expo on Digital Agriculture (WEDA), hosted by the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, concluded on Monday in Chengdu, southwest China. The event showcased the latest advancements in smart agriculture technology and served as a platform for fostering collaboration with Belt and Road participating countries.

The 2024 WEDA received nearly 100,000 attendees in total, with various live streaming events attracting over 10 million online views and more than 2 million interactions.

Featuring six major exhibition areas, including smart agriculture, digital countryside, and rural and cross-border e-commerce, the event brought together over 100 Chinese companies and more than 20 foreign companies from seven countries and regions to demonstrate their latest innovations in smart agriculture.

Additionally, 17 events, including product launches, unveiling of scientific and technological achievements and project signings were held at the expo.

Meanwhile, representatives from ASEAN countries and officials from international organizations shared their experiences in smart agricultural development at the second China-ASEAN Digital Agriculture Forum, held in conjunction with the expo. These discussions aimed to explore global trends in agricultural digitization and contribute to the revitalization of rural areas and high-quality agricultural development under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Ahmad Safuan Bujang, director of the Engineering Research Center at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, said Malaysia can learn from China's large-scale farming and advanced agricultural technology, in an interview with CGTN.

The forum, focusing on digital innovation, enables Asia-Pacific countries to learn from each other and work together to overcome agriculture challenges, remarked Macro Silvestri, deputy head of the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.