Peking University, December 27, 2021: On December 6, 2021, the 10th Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE) International Conference was held in Beijing. The conference, under the theme of “Gearing Asian Agricultural Development in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities and Challenges”, was jointly hosted by ASAE, Peking University, Renmin University of China (RUC) and China Agricultural University (CAU). This three-day online conference drew 300 experts and scholars from around the world.

In the past four decades, Asia has been facing great challenges to enhance agricultural productivity and transform rural regions, particularly in the theory and practice of agricultural economics, where there are plenty of unsolved problems to be explored and researched. Through in-depth academic exchanges, the conference is committed to refining both new theoretical issues and research paths.
 

Prof. Yu Sheng from PKU’s School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences presided over the opening ceremony. Welcoming remarks were delivered by Prof. Zhu Xinkai, vice president of RUC; Prof. Si Wei, dean of CAU’s College of Economics and Management; and Prof. Huang Jikun, president of ASAE and member of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).


In his keynote speech, Prof. Huang Jikun delivered a report on the opportunities and challenges brought by digital technology to China’s agriculture and rural development. He explained the digital transformation of China’s agriculture through data analysis and emphasized the need to formulate a more inclusive strategy and policy to further develop digital agriculture. Following that, 9 internationally renowned experts in the field of agricultural economy gave keynote speeches on the subtopics in agriculture economics such as the development of digital and transgenic technologies, the innovation of agricultural and rural systems, and the transformation of food systems.

This year’s conference set up 40 parallel subforums, providing a platform for scholars engaged in Asian agricultural economics to share their latest research results. Prestigious international institutes such as the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) were also invited to express their academic perspectives on agricultural development and transformation in Asia and the rest of the globe.

For the first time, the best paper award of the ASAE conference was implemented to encourage young scholars in relevant fields. 6 papers authored by teams from Japan, Vietnam and China were selected from 134 submissions following two rounds of anonymous voting. Prof. Doo Bong Han, a member of the ASAE Executive Committee from South Korea presented the best paper award to the award-winning teams.


At the end of the conference, Prof. Kei Kajisa, the incoming president of ASAE, issued an invitation for scholars to gather in 2023 for the 11th ASAE International conference.

Written by: Fu Jiaqi
Edited by: June Tan Rui Min
Source:PKU News (Chinese)