From November 21 to 23, the 2nd Conference on Germplasm Innovation and Biological Breeding of Subtropic Crops and Horticultural Innovation Forum was held in Nanning. Guided by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the conference was co-hosted by GXU, South China Agricultural University, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and undertaken by the State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-biological Resources, and the School of Agriculture of GXU. Liu Yaoguang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Luo Jun, Level II Bureau Rank Official of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Chen Zhendong, Vice President of the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Yu Wenjin, Vice President of GXU, attended the conference and delivered speeches. Zhang Xianlong, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Sun Jian, President of the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhao Jianjun, President of Hebei Agricultural University, Ding Yanfeng and Zhu Yan, Vice Presidents of Nanjing Agricultural University, Chen Letian, Vice President of South China Agricultural University, and Feng Jiaxun, Former Vice President of GXU, attended the conference.

Looking back on the successful holding of the first conference in 2023, Liu Yaoguang pointed out that promoting the germplasm innovation and biological breeding of subtropical crops is significant for responding to the global competition in seed industry science and technology. He hoped that the participating experts would conduct in-depth discussions, build consensus, jointly depict the future of subtropical agriculture, and work together to tackle the "choke point" problems in the seed industry.

Yu Wenjin introduced the general situation of GXU and the 90-year development history of its agriculture-related disciplines, and shared GXU's research achievements in biological breeding of sugarcane and horticultural crops. He pointed out that this conference is a concrete practice in response to China’s seed industry revitalization strategy, and hoped to strengthen exchanges, cooperation and collaborative innovation through this event, so as to jointly promote the high-quality development of characteristic subtropical agriculture.

Luo Jun introduced the achievements made in the development of Guangxi's modern characteristic agricultural industry. He said that Guangxi is accelerating in building itself a strong agricultural region, and he hoped that the participating experts would give play to their advantages of high-end intellectual resources, provide guidance in cutting-edge academic leadership, tackling core technologies, cultivating innovative talents, and jointly compose a new chapter for the agricultural modernization in Guangxi.

Chen Zhendong thanked the participating experts for their support to the conference. He hoped that the conference would continuously improve its level, expand its influence, build its brand, and provide a high-quality platform for experts and scholars to conduct in-depth exchanges, close cooperation and common development in the field of subtropical crop research.

During the conference, Zhang Xianlong and other 68 experts, scholars and outstanding young scientists, who have made prominent achievements and important academic influences in the fields related to subtropical crop science, delivered conference reports. The participating representatives conducted discussions and exchanges on topics such as the evaluation and utilization of crop germplasm resources, the innovation of cutting-edge technologies in crop breeding, new crop varieties breeding, demonstration and promotion, and the integration and innovative application of smart agriculture technologies.

It is reported that this conference is an important part of the series of activities of "Wisdom Gathering in Bagui · Academicians and Experts' Guangxi Tour for the High-Quality Development of Characteristic Agriculture". The activity is hosted by the Talent Work Leading Group of the CPC Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and undertaken jointly by the Organization Department of the CPC Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Association for Science and Technology, and the Big Data Bureau of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

More than 600 experts, scholars, young scientific and technological talents, postgraduates and enterprise representatives in the fields related to subtropical crops and horticulture attended the conference on site. The conference was live-streamed globally, with a total of over 20,000 online viewers.