The third edition of the Cross-Straits Rural Revitalization Forum opened in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, on Oct 28.

A total of 250 agricultural experts and scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait attended the event and explored possibilities for cooperation in rural revitalization between Ningbo and Taiwan.

Xu Tao, executive vice president of the National Association of Taiwan Enterprises, said that artificial intelligence gives cross-Straits agricultural cooperation great potential.

He said that technologies such as big data, internet of things, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence will be applied to agricultural production in the near future, digitalizing important agricultural information such as crop yields, livestock health, weather, soil environment, and product quality. 

Yang Tuan, a researcher and deputy director of the Social Policy Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that agricultural and rural modernization is an indispensable part of the nation's modernization, calling for more efforts to coordinate urban and rural integration.

Taiwan business representative Li Fusheng delivered a keynote speech based on his own experience. He said he believes that breaking the urban-rural dual structure is the key to urban-rural integration, the basic driving force behind sustained economic growth, and a necessary part of building a well-off society. 

In addition to the main forum, five sub-forums themed on topics including rural governance, family education, e-commerce and homestay cooperation are also scheduled to be held.