Weifang's agricultural blueprint aligns with China's 'No 1 Central Document'

As a key player in national agricultural modernization, Weifang city in Shandong province has long been at the forefront of innovation — from pioneering agricultural industrialization 30 years ago to establishing the first comprehensive pilot agriculture zone at the national level.

China's "No 1 Central Document" for 2025 was released on Feb 23, reaffirming the country's commitment to strengthening agriculture, rural development, and farmers' prosperity. In line with this vision, Weifang is advancing its agricultural sector through innovation and modernization.

Modern agricultural machinery in action on fields in Weifang. [Photo/sdnews.com]

Specifically, Shouguang, Weifang's vegetable production hub, has revolutionized modern farming with advanced soilless cultivation, intelligent climate control, and biological pest management, which secures its market position at home and abroad.

Weifang is also leading efforts to overcome bottlenecks in developing the seed industry by collaborating with research institutions to cultivate proprietary, high-yield crop varieties. Additionally, it builds a comprehensive smart agriculture platform empowered by big data across storage, logistics, marketing, and supervision, accelerating the digital transformation of agriculture.

Workers tend crops in a greenhouse in Shouguang, a county-level city in Shandong province. [Photo by Wang Quanguo/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Qingzhou in Weifang has developed a full-fledged flower industry chain, from breeding and cultivation to tourism and cultural promotion, enhancing its market competitiveness. In Changyi, an ecological tourism brand, Shanyang Pear, has flourished. Meanwhile, Linqu county leverages its natural resources to develop a cherry industry spanning 150,000 mu (10,000 hectares), generating over 3.5 billion yuan ($483 million) in annual revenue and becoming China's largest facility-based cherry cultivation base.

Zhucheng, also located within Weifang, is advancing rural cooperative reform through a stockholding system, allowing farmers to invest in land, property, and machinery. With 181 cooperatives managing 53,000 mu, collective earnings have risen by 19.13 million yuan, fostering a mutually beneficial ecosystem for farmers, collectives, and enterprises.