An agricultural technology training demonstration base was unveiled on Thursday at the 27th China Yangling Agricultural Hi-tech Fair, an annual promotion and exhibition for agricultural development in Shaanxi province.

The fair was organized in conjunction with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China National Intellectual Property Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Shaanxi provincial government. It will run until Monday.

Six indoor and outdoor exhibition halls and display areas with more than 2,000 stands were installed at the fair, in a total exhibition area of 160,000 square meters. This year also marks the first year that the fair is being held both online and offline.

Themed “Technological innovation leads to high-quality growth”, the fair will feature more than 100 activities and attract participants from 70 countries.

At the opening ceremony on Thursday, Zhao Yide, governor of Shaanxi province, said, “The activities we hold at the fair can bring more opportunities for communication and cooperation at home and abroad, while injecting stronger impetus into the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas and high-quality agricultural growth.

Xu Nanping, vice-minister of science and technology, said that the fair has played an important role in strengthening international exchanges and cooperation in agriculture.

“In the next step, we plan to implement an innovation-driven development strategy to speed up innovation in the agricultural sector,” Xu said.

The fair’s organizers said the training demonstration base will establish a number of modern agricultural research centers, international collaboration labs and agricultural technology promotion application platforms to promote cooperation.

Yangling has been home to the Agricultural High-tech Industrial Demonstration Zone since 1997. The high-tech fair has attracted thousands of agricultural companies and scientific research institutions from more than 70 countries worldwide since 1994.