Wang Fengzhong, director of the Institute of Agricultural Products Processing, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said on the 24th that in 2020, China's agricultural product processing industry achieved an operating income exceeding 23.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.2 trillion yuan year-on-year, with an agricultural product processing conversion rate reaching 67.5%. Currently, the contribution rate of science and technology to the development of the agricultural product processing industry has reached 63%.

This was learned from a press conference on "Scientific and Technological Innovation Leading the High-Quality Development of Agricultural Product Processing Industry" held at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences on the 24th.

Wang Fengzhong said that during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, science and technology provided strong support for the stable development of China's agricultural product processing industry. A series of technological breakthroughs have been made in dynamic preservation and cold chain logistics of fresh agricultural products, on-site primary processing, wheat flour milling, and low-temperature oil pressing. Key core equipment such as flour milling, oil pressing, juicing, and livestock and poultry slaughtering and segmentation have transitioned from reliance on imports to independent manufacturing, significantly enhancing independent innovation capabilities.

He also pointed out that although the effect of science and technology in promoting the development of the agricultural product processing industry is significant, there are still some problems in practice, such as the reliance on imports for many key enzyme preparations and ingredients involved in agricultural product processing; large post-harvest losses of fresh agricultural products, shortcomings in green and precise loss reduction and preservation technologies, and intelligent cold chain logistics technologies; and a lack of tiered processing technologies from primary processing to deep processing, and from fresh to cooked products, resulting in low added value of processing.

Sun Tan, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that in the future, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences will accelerate the development of the agricultural product processing industry, promote the optimization and upgrading of the entire industry chain, and strive to increase the agricultural product processing conversion rate from 67.5% to about 80% by 2025, further optimize the structural layout, and significantly enhance market competitiveness.

He stated that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, efforts will focus on building a modern rural industrial system, coordinating and supporting the coordinated development of primary processing, deep processing, and comprehensive utilization. Promote the aggregation of elements, support local areas in building a batch of agricultural product processing industrial parks, and create a batch of pilot areas for integrated development of rural primary, secondary, and tertiary industries; promote scientific and technological innovation, overcome a batch of bottlenecks in agricultural product processing technologies and equipment, and integrate and create a batch of processing technologies and supporting equipment with high technological content and wide applicability; promote the cultivation of entities, promote recycling, high-value utilization, and tiered utilization, and strive to achieve comprehensive rural revitalization through industrial revitalization.