On May 12, the Ninth International Raspberry Meeting kicked off in Fengyang county, Anhui province. It is the first time that the International Union of Raspberries organized such an event in China.

Antonio Dominguez，president of the International Raspberry Organization (IRO) , Felipe Rosas, general secretary of the IRO , Li Jiahu, president of the China Raspberry Producers Alliance, Zhang Xiang'an, mayor of Chuzhou, Jin Li, vice mayor of Chuzhou, and Fengyang county officials Mi Decheng, Wang Qiang, Zhang Xingyu, Shi Jinfa, and Tao Xusheng attended the opening ceremony.

More than 200 delegates, including 12 IRO member country representatives, international renowned agricultural research experts, representatives from international investment and financial institutions, nursery suppliers, raspberry producers, raspberry products deep processing enterprises, and e-commerce platform vendors attended the opening ceremony as well.

Xie Peng, vice chairman of the Ninth International Raspberry Meeting's Organizing Committee, chaired the meeting.

Zhang Xiang'an expressed a warm welcome to all guests participating in the conference. He briefed delegates on Chuzhou's regional environment, resources, history, culture, and economic development.

He said that Chuzhou is an agricultural city and its agricultural output accounts for one-seventh of the total grain production in Anhui. In addition, the annual grain output for commercial use takes a quarter of which in Anhui province.

In recent years, Chuzhou has actively contributed to food security and the structural adjustment of agricultural production, and vigorously promoted modern agriculture, and ecological agriculture,

Zhang also said that the Ninth International Raspberry Meeting hosted in Fengyang provides a rare opportunity for domestic and foreign experts to discuss their local industries, future trends and technology in the raspberry industry. And it also provides a platform for raspberry producers to seek potential business opportunities.

Antonio Dominguez briefed delegates on the history, mission and role of the organization, while Li Jiahu, president of the China Raspberry Producers Alliance delivered a speech on the raspberry situation and prospects in China.

Delegates from Australia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Britain, Chile, Poland, USA, and Canada, talked about their raspberry industries, specialty products, pest control, mechanization reaping, subsequent processing and product sales. An expert from the Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in China gave a lecture on the development and use of new technology on raspberry cultivation in ultra-low temperature conditions.

At the end of the meeting, Antonio Dominguez announced that Fengyang county had been selected as the "City of Chinese Raspberry" and presented the plaque to Wang Qiang, head of Fengyang People's Government. 

Fengyang county is selected as the "City of Chinese Raspberry".

Ninth International Raspberry Meeting

Raspberry products exhibition