The 12th International Grape and Wine Advanced Seminar opened in Yangling, Shaanxi province, in Northwest China on April 20, the date of the 30th anniversary of the first wine college in Asia being established, at Northwest A&F University.

The seminar is held on April 20 at the university. 

More than 800 leaders, experts, representatives of the wine industry, alumni, and teachers and students from China, Italy, Spain and other countries attended the opening ceremony online and offline. 

The attending representatives shared and discussed the latest research achievements and progress on "Artificial Intelligence and High Quality Development in the Wine Industry".

Leaders and experts celebrate the opening of the seminar and the anniversary of the college. 

According to Li Hua, former vice-president of Northwest A&F University and lifetime honorary dean of the Wine College. The College of Wine at Northwest A&F University was established on April 20, 1994. Its predecessor was the "Grape Cultivation and Wine Making" program founded in 1985, making it the first wine college in Asia.

The college has become the largest wine school in the world, with over 80% of people forming the technical backbone of the national wine industry coming from the college. It has trained more than 4,400 graduates and more than 10,000 professional and technical personnel, and it has promoted the establishment of wine colleges or related majors in 22 domestic universities, with 80% of training programs, 70% of professional textbooks and 70% of professional teachers coming from the colleges.

"The Wine College has opened the precedent for higher education in wine in China, leading and promoting the modern wine industry from scratch, from existence to development, and making important contributions to serving national strategy and local economic and social development," said Huang Siguang, secretary of the Party Committee of Northwest A&F University. 

Huang emphasized the need to further establish the wine college and continue to demonstrate new responsibilities and make new achievements in supporting and leading the high-quality development of China's wine industry.

John Buck, director general of the International Organization of Grapes and Wines (OIV), delivered a speech at the opening ceremony expressing his best wishes to the college.

Twenty-three renowned experts and scholars were invited to give special presentations, covering topics such as China's wine producing regions, recommendations for high-quality development of the wine industry, the bridge between the sustainability of vineyards and modern production requirements: the construction and application of wine quality expression systems, the impact of nitrogen metabolism in wine yeast on production and fermentation kinetics, and aroma production.

More than 30 units and organizations, including Lincoln University in New Zealand, the University of Adelaide in Australia, China Agricultural University and COFCO Great Wall Winery Co., Ltd., sent congratulatory letters. More than 500 organizations and individuals have donated funds and materials for the construction and development of the college.