A China·Qidong (Shanghai) modern agricultural investment promotion conference was held in Chongming district, Shanghai on August 30.

Thirty-eight projects with investment of 3.13 billion yuan ($458.4 million) were signed at the conference. They included a Fuyuan leisure agricultural project with an investment of 800 million yuan and a Jinhe holiday village with an investment of 420 million yuan.

According to Tang Xiong, deputy secretary of the party committee of Qidong, Qidong is now facing many challenges that also provide excellent opportunities for the development of modern agriculture. In recent years, Qidong made a lot of effort to develop modern urban agriculture orientated to Shanghai, building quality industries of green vegetables, special aquatic products, flower seedlings and leisure sightseeing. By the end of 2017, the city had built 49,567 hectares of high standard farmland. It is home to 12 national and provincial agricultural enterprises with more than 42 percent of agricultural products sold to Shanghai, achieving sales of more than five billion yuan ($ 73.25 million).

Tang noted that Qidong and Chongming district use the same dialect and are geographically close to each other, which gives them similar cultures and economic status. He hopes that the two cities can strengthen cooperation in agriculture and rural revitalization by the construction of Chongming world-class ecological island. “I hope this promotion conference can be a window to showcase Qidong’s advantages and prospects. We warmly welcome entrepreneurs to invest and run businesses in Qidong. We will provide them the best policies, environment and services,” he added.