Egrets Island Unleashes New Journey: Traditional Foods Set Sail

2026 Global Traditional Food and Nutrition Industry Development Conference Opens Grandly in Xiamen

On June 5, the 2026 Global Traditional Food and Nutrition Industry Development Conference and Traditional Food and Nutrition Products Expo grandly opened at the Xiamen International Exhibition Center. The conference, themed “Inheritance and Innovation, Cooperation and Going Global,” is jointly hosted by the China Food and Drug Enterprises Quality Safety Promotion Association, China General Chamber of Commerce, National Public Nutrition Improvement Project Office, China Food Fermentation Industry Research Institute, Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement Business Council, International Registered Dietitian Association, European China General Chamber of Commerce, and China Agricultural Products Circulation Brokers Association. It gathered government leaders, representatives from international organizations, experts, scholars, entrepreneurs, and industry elites from home and abroad to jointly outline a new blueprint for the high-quality development of the traditional food and nutrition industry.

A Gathering of Distinguished Guests

At 9 AM, the conference officially commenced under the chairmanship of Wang Yanguo, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement Business Council and Chairman of the National Committee. Wang Min, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the China General Chamber of Commerce, and Wang Hua, Vice President of the China Food and Drug Enterprises Quality Safety Promotion Association, delivered speeches; Lai Chaoliang, former Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce and founding President of the Fujian Chamber of Commerce, delivered a welcome address.

In his speech, President Wang Min pointed out that traditional food is the carrier of millennia of agricultural civilization and the taste memory of national culture. In the context of promoting the construction of a healthy China and fully practicing the “big food concept,” the nutritional, cultural, and market values of traditional foods continue to be released, becoming an important force to boost consumption, empower rural revitalization, and promote high-quality economic development. He proposed three suggestions: uphold the roots of inheritance and shine the cultural brand; adhere to innovation-driven development and activate industrial momentum; deepen open cooperation and share development opportunities.

Vice President Wang Hua delivered a welcome address on behalf of the organizers. Traditional food carries the wisdom crystallization of millennia of civilization, and this conference aims to build a high-end platform for global resource sharing, deep industrial integration, collaborative innovation in technology, and efficient trade docking. He stated that the China Food and Drug Safety Promotion Association will uphold safety bottom lines, promote inheritance and innovation, and deepen international cooperation to help high-quality traditional Chinese foods reach the global stage.

International Perspective and Wisdom Collision

During the expert keynote session, Yu Xiaodong, former deputy director of the Economic Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission and head of the National Public Nutrition Improvement Project, Wang Deliang, chief expert and vice president of the China Food Fermentation Industry Research Institute, Lin Cunmo, vice president of the International Registered Dietitians Association, Ai Zheyong, CEO of Yingtao Public Relations Consulting, and Ajith D Perera, secretary-general of the Sri Lanka China Business Cooperation Council and rotating chairman of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement Business Council, shared cutting-edge insights on topics such as technological innovation, nutritional upgrades, and international standard alignment, providing new ideas for the modernization of the traditional food industry.

In the enterprise representative session, outstanding companies such as Fujian Tongli Meat Swallow, Henan Lianxing Oil Tea, and Shanxi Shangan Source shared their development experiences that balance inheritance and innovation, showcasing the vibrant vitality of the traditional food industry.

Major Launch · Abundant Achievements

During the conference, several important ceremonies were held: the official launch of the ‘Food and National Security Forum China Tour’; successful signing of the national food safety social co-governance big data public service platform; and the release of the brand strategy ‘Co-cultivating New Quality Productive Forces · Sharing Ecological Good Freshness’ by Sichuan Houquan Ecological Food Co., Ltd., along with strategic agreements signed with partners such as China Eye Valley, JD Fresh, BOE Art Cloud, and Huatang Yunshang.

Subsequently, leaders including Wang Min, Yu Xiaodong, Wang Deliang, Wang Yanguo, Lin Cunmo, Ajith, Tan Xinzhen, and Wang Hua jointly took the stage to launch the 2026 Traditional Food and Nutrition Products Expo. The expo covers an exhibition area of 23,000 square meters, gathering over 400 well-known enterprises, encompassing all categories such as food, beverages, alcohol, condiments, and prepared dishes, creating a one-stop platform for industry connection and business negotiations.

“Nine Collaborations” Breakthrough Strategy

In the afternoon, the conference held a high-end closed-door dialogue on traditional food and nutrition industry. Participants focused on core topics such as technological breakthroughs, brand building, compliance management, and trade expansion, forming the ‘Nine Collaborations’ development consensus in Xiamen. First, popularization focuses on ecology, solving the problem of a single main body and rigid cultural dissemination. Second, professionalism strengthens the core, addressing the lack of support for ancient methods and the absence of empirical nutrition. Third, marketization activates vitality, tackling prominent homogeneous competition and scattered export channels. Fourth, digitization improves efficiency, resolving coarse production and sales models and prominent information barriers. Fifth, standardization breaks barriers, addressing the issue of non-unified standards and difficulties in cross-border access. Sixth, traceability maintains the bottom line, solving the problem of insufficient safety trust and weak green compliance. Seventh, branding enhances value, addressing severe low-price competition and low international recognition. Eighth, mechanization solidifies long-term effectiveness, tackling fragmented cooperation and difficulties in sustaining results. Ninth, internationalization sets goals, addressing the issues of shallow global layout and weak industry discourse power.

Looking Ahead · Steady Progress

The successful holding of this conference has established an international, professional, and market-oriented high-end cooperation platform, effectively promoting the inheritance of traditional food culture and the innovation and upgrading of the nutrition industry. All parties present expressed their commitment to working together, deepening real industries, expanding markets, establishing rules, and sharing the future, jointly promoting the global traditional food and nutrition industry towards a new stage of higher quality and higher-level globalization.

Currently, the global traditional food and nutrition industry is facing significant opportunities for consumption upgrades, cultural integration, and market connectivity, while also confronting nine prominent bottlenecks: weak export capabilities, insufficient research support systems, low adaptability of products overseas, lagging digitalization of production and sales, poor alignment with international standards, insufficient food safety trust, severe low-price homogeneous competition, fragmented and short-term international cooperation, and weak industry discourse power. Based on problem orientation, systematic thinking, and long-term development, this conference has distilled the ‘Nine Collaborations’ development system, targeting industry pain points and systematically reshaping the industrial landscape, providing systematic solutions for the high-quality, sustainable, and global development of the global traditional food and nutrition industry.