In total, 19 Dutch companies and institutions will join the mission, including Dutch Greenhouse Delta, Complete Greenhouse Project, NL Works, WUR, and Huafeng Technology. The working visit is led by Marcel van Raaij, acting director of the International Cooperation department of the Ministry of LNV.
With global climate change, diminishing natural resources, and an aging population, greenhouse horticulture is becoming the new way to increase food production in more and more countries. Chinese future visions advocate "intensifying the development of modern agricultural facilities" and speak of the "transformation and modernization of old greenhouses."
Greenhouses for cultivation, ranging from low-tech to high-tech equipped, play a major role in facility agriculture. Many provinces and cities in China, such as Heilongjiang, Guangdong, Shanghai, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Beijing, have announced local policies to more extensively support the development of greenhouse horticulture.
Dutch greenhouse horticulture has a strongly integrated supply chain from farm to table, including plant breeding, fresh product processing, greenhouse technology, and cold chain logistics. In China, greenhouse horticulture is developing rapidly because there is increasing demand for high-quality, organic, and healthy vegetables.
The Dutch trade delegation will travel to Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing to hold one-on-one meetings with local companies in the facility horticulture sector. The delegation will also visit modern agricultural parks in the Fengxian district of Shanghai, in Changzhou, and in Nanjing.