China's thriving smart agriculture goes global

A spraying robot is seen at the 27th China (Shouguang) International Vegetable Science and Technology Expo in Shouguang, east China's Shandong Province, April 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)

JINAN, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Intelligent technologies are being applied to farmland in Shouguang, an eastern Chinese city known as a major vegetable production base, showcasing the latest achievements in China's protected agriculture.

The ongoing China (Shouguang) International Vegetable Science and Technology Expo, its 27th version that runs from April 20 through May 30, showcases how digital intelligence development is helping farmers overcome environmental constraints on vegetable planting, enabling robust cultivation even under extreme conditions.

"What exact levels of moisture and light are needed to maintain the crisp texture and fresh quality of a vegetable? The answer lies entirely in data," said Ma Zunjuan, one of the venue managers.

In the plant factory shown at the expo, key growth factors including temperature, light, moisture and fertilizer are decomposed into programmable digital variables. Customized regulation can precisely meet the exclusive growth needs of fruits, vegetables, leafy greens and flowers at different growth stages, according to Ma.

"This means vegetables can break free from reliance on traditional soil, natural precipitation and sunlight conditions, and complete the whole process of growth, flowering and fruiting in a fully artificial environment," Ma explained. "Fresh vegetables can be steadily produced even under extreme cold and heat."

Just beside this plant factory, futuristic intelligent robots act as field workers, showing their abilities to engage in intensive farming work.

Spray robots support autonomous navigation and orbital movement to realize unmanned pesticide spraying, reducing labor input by 20 percent and cutting pesticide use by 25 percent. The pollination robot "Greenhouse Bee" uses airflow vibration and spraying for pollination, increasing the fruit-setting rate by 10 percent compared with bumblebee pollination. Meanwhile, harvesting robots can accurately identify ripe fruits and carry out gentle picking.

"With these smart tools, farmers no longer need to work long hours in the fields. They can complete the entire process simply via mobile phone operations," Ma said.

Chinese central authorities issued a document in February, outlining plans to advance agricultural and rural modernization and to promote all-around rural revitalization. It pledged to expand application scenarios for advanced technologies such as drones, the Internet of Things, and robots.

All the new technologies showcased in the exhibition hall have been widely applied in farmlands across Shouguang, translating into tangible productive forces.

Liu Chunxiang, an agricultural expert from Shouguang's Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, noted that in recent years, Shouguang has upgraded agricultural infrastructure and industrial equipment. The penetration rate of intelligent equipment, the application rate of the Internet of Things and the popularization rate of standardized production in newly built greenhouses have all exceeded 85 percent, with labor productivity increased by 30 percent to 50 percent.

Boasting digital planting and intelligent farming tools, China's modern agriculture is reshaping traditional farming and offering viable solutions for extreme environments worldwide.

Deep in the vast deserts of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, an agricultural base jointly built by China's Shouguang Vegetable Industry Group (SVG) and the UAE's agritech firm Silal was put into operation last year.

Despite the extreme outdoor heat, the greenhouses maintain a pleasant temperature with lush vegetation, yielding some 7,000 kg of over 10 varieties of produce daily.

Last year, Silal and SVG signed a strategic partnership to establish a 33-million-U.S. dollar, 10-hectare smart agriculture center in Al Ain, featuring AI laboratories, automated irrigation systems, post-harvest processing units, and logistics centers.

Meanwhile, Shouguang Xiangtian Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. is also providing new solutions for agricultural transformation in the Middle East, Central Asia and other regions.

A shipping container covering an area of only about 30 square meters has been turned into an intelligent greenhouse, boasting an output over five times that of traditional planting.

"It features strong adaptability to extreme environments and can operate normally in deserts with temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius as well as in extremely cold regions," said Liu Pengpeng, board chairman of Shouguang Xiangtian, adding that their produce has been exported to countries including Mauritius, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Russia.