In the afternoon of March 2, the 2023 International Agricultural Market and Trade (Spring) Forum was successfully held in Beijing. Sui Pengfei, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Wang Yi, Vice President of Renmin University of China, and Cheng Chun, Second Inspector of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, attended the forum and delivered speeches. The forum set up two sessions of keynote speeches and panel discussions, which were chaired by Ma Hongtao, Director of the Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Qiu Huanguang, Dean of the School of Agriculture and Rural Development of Renmin University of China, respectively.

Sui Pengfei pointed out in his speech that holding the International Agricultural Market and Trade Forum is a new attempt to build a high-level expert think tank in China for the international arena, to guide market expectations scientifically and reasonably, and to strengthen information sharing with international agricultural markets. In the next step, China will improve agricultural policies and standards, create more new business models, and promote high-quality development of agricultural markets and trade around food security, addressing climate change, and synergies between markets and trade.

Wang Yi said in his speech that Renmin University of China (RUC) was founded to carry out higher education in socialist agricultural economics, and is the pioneer, founder and leader of the discipline of agricultural economics in new China. RUC will continue to conduct in-depth research on important topics such as food security, green development and rural revitalisation, and contribute NPC solutions. Chengchun's speech pointed out that in recent years, China has made positive contributions to maintaining the stability and smooth flow of the global industrial chain supply chain. In the future, China will continue to deepen international cooperation in agricultural trade, promote the expansion and opening up of the agricultural sector and strengthen the promotion of agricultural trade and investment, continuously improve the level of trade liberalisation and facilitation, and make new contributions to ensuring the stability of global agricultural supply.

Carlos Watson, FAO Representative in China, Colm Rafferty, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in China and Cheng Guoqiang, Professor at Renmin University of China, delivered keynote speeches on the state of global and Chinese food security, the agricultural market and trade situation, and supply chain security.

Chen Gang, Director of Foreign Cooperation Department of COFCO, Wang Jun, Director of Founder Institute of Medium Term Futures, Manuel Sanchez, Director of Beijing Office of the American Grains Association, Hu Bingchuan, Researcher of Institute of Rural Development, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peng Chao, Chief Expert of Agricultural Trade Early Warning Relief Expert Committee (Rice), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Liu Su Yun, Chief Expert of Agricultural Trade Early Warning Relief Expert Committee (Wheat), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, on The panel discussion was held on the global supply and demand, price and trade situation of agricultural products, and the hot issues of agricultural trade contributing to the construction of a strong agricultural country and a strong trade country.

Cheng Guoqiang, Chief Advisor of the Agricultural Trade Early Warning Relief Expert Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, released the International Agricultural Market and Trade Situation 2023 (Spring) Report. According to the report, global agricultural production, logistics and transport and trade order will gradually stabilise in 2023, and the international agricultural market and trade environment is expected to improve, but the tightening supply and demand relationship for some staple foods and the downward movement of most bulk agricultural prices are of concern, and China's imports of major agricultural products are expected to stabilise at a high level.

Ma Hongtao concluded the forum by saying that the global food security situation is still not optimistic, and strengthening and improving the construction of a risk monitoring and early warning system for food and important agricultural products plays an important role in scientifically preventing, assessing and responding to multiple risks such as natural disasters, climate change, geopolitical conflicts and trade sanctions. China is willing to work with all parties to build consensus, deepen cooperation, strengthen the linkage of domestic and international markets, share resources and exchange information, and make new and greater contributions to the sustainable and healthy development of international agricultural trade and the construction of a safe and stable, smooth and efficient, open and inclusive, mutually beneficial and win-win global agricultural industry chain supply chain system.

Talking about how China's agricultural products "go to sea" through international trade to help build a strong agricultural country, Hu Bingchuan, a researcher at the Institute of Rural Development, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that building a strong agricultural country is inextricably linked to trade in agricultural products. On the one hand, we make up for it through imports to meet domestic consumer demand. On the other hand, the comparative advantage of China's agricultural production can be brought into play to improve the value level of our agricultural production and the overall technical conditions, so that our agricultural exports can be further enhanced in terms of high quality and high technology. This is necessary to promote the modernisation of our agriculture and rural development and the construction of a strong agricultural country.

The forum was guided by the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, co-organised by Renmin University and the Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre and International Exchange Service Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and hosted by the School of Agriculture and Rural Development of Renmin University. The forum was attended by more than 200 representatives from ambassadors of some countries in China, relevant national government agencies, international organisations, financial institutions, multinational enterprises involved in agriculture, local agricultural and rural departments, research institutes, industry associations and bases for high-quality development of international trade in agriculture.