China News Service, Nanning, October 23 (Huang Lingyan) On October 23, the 2026 China-ASEAN Digital Agriculture Forum was held in Nanning, Guangxi. At the meeting, the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released 6 series of knowledge products: "China's Agricultural Foreign Investment Cooperation Analysis Report (2026)", "China's Agricultural Two-way Investment Research Report", "Agricultural-related Foreign Investment Policy Environment Research", "Digital Agriculture Development and International Cooperation Research", "Lancang-Mekong Agricultural Cooperation Development Report 2025-2026" and "Agricultural Foreign Economic Observation and Thoughts".
"China's Agricultural Foreign Investment Cooperation Analysis Report (2026)" mainly analyzes China's agricultural foreign investment key regions/countries, industries, provinces, corporate practices, etc. The report shows that as of the end of 2025, a total of 745 domestic enterprises in my country have invested and established 1,044 agricultural-related enterprises and projects overseas, covering 113 countries and regions, with a foreign investment stock of US$34.787 billion and a foreign investment flow of US$2.236 billion.
my country's agricultural foreign investment mainly presents four characteristics. First, agricultural foreign investment is stable and improving. As of 2025, my country's agricultural overseas investment stock has exceeded US$30 billion for the second consecutive year, with the stock increasing by 6.25% year-on-year. The number of overseas projects has remained above 1,000 for six consecutive years, and overseas investment covers more than 50% of the world's countries and regions.
Second, agricultural foreign investment is concentrated in regional and industrial distribution. Over 90% of investment flows and nearly 80% of investment stocks are concentrated in Asia and Europe. ASEAN accounts for more than 30% of the foreign agricultural investment stock. Central Asia is a high-growth area for cotton investment. Africa is dominated by the seed industry, agricultural machinery, and agrochemicals. The seed industry, aquaculture, oil processing, and dairy industries in the Americas are growing rapidly.
Third, overseas industrial cooperation continues to improve and upgrade. The cooperation model has shifted from exporting products to jointly building production capacity; chain collaboration has been strengthened, and partner countries are jointly building industrial chains; technological empowerment has been deepened, shifting from physical commodities to technology sharing and capacity building; institutional connectivity has been strengthened, promoting standard sharing and rule coordination, and empowering host countries to develop independent and sustainable agriculture.
Fourth, the implementation of “artificial intelligence + agriculture” international cooperation has accelerated. The global demand for agricultural intelligence is accelerating, providing realistic space for international cooperation on intelligent agricultural machinery, water-saving agriculture, and digital agricultural services based on local conditions. Agricultural artificial intelligence technology is accelerating towards system integration and large-scale application, and is expanding into "technology + equipment + platform" comprehensive solution cooperation. The artificial intelligence international cooperation platform provides richer international cooperation channels for technology research and development, scenario verification, talent training and industrial applications. The "agriculture + artificial intelligence" cooperation model gradually shifts to joint research and development, scenario verification, localization adaptation, demonstration base construction and long-term operation services.
The theme of this forum is "Integration of digital intelligence and green win-win: jointly building a new future for China-ASEAN agricultural cooperation". Representatives from domestic and foreign agricultural departments, scientific research institutions and enterprises gathered to discuss the innovative development of digital agriculture and explore new paths for the transformation and upgrading of regional agricultural modernization.
