In 2025, General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Changchun and explicitly called for "coordinated regional development and the advancement of the Changchun Modern Metropolitan Area." At the ongoing 25th Changchun International Agricultural and Food Expo, the exhibition zone of the Changchun Modern Metropolitan Area has emerged as a major attraction, with the four cities of Changchun, Jilin, Siping, and Liaoyuan jointly showcasing their achievements in integrated agricultural development. They are building a long-term cooperation platform for communication between governments and enterprises, linkage between production and markets, and coordinated development, striving to advance high-quality agricultural development in the Changchun Modern Metropolitan Area.

The exhibition zone of the Changchun Modern Metropolitan Area, situated in Hall 1 of the Changchun Agri-Expo Garden, showcases an array of premium agricultural products from the four cities. A total of 269 agricultural products from 53 companies are on display, including fresh corn, premium japonica rice, sika deer tonic products, high-end beef cattle products, Changbai Mountain ginseng, rare edible mushrooms, miscellaneous grains, mountain delicacies, and specialty alcoholic beverages. Jilin Zhonglu Chinese Medicine Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. has brought featured deer products such as deer fetus gelatin and deer blood tablets. At last year's Joint Meeting on the Coordinated Development of Sci-Tech Innovation of the Changchun Metropolitan Area (Changchun–Jilin–Siping–Liaoyuan), the company started cooperation with deer farming enterprises in Yitong County, Siping. Raw materials that previously had to be procured from other provinces can now be sourced locally within the province, ensuring the freshness of raw materials while reducing transportation costs, allowing the company to reap tangible benefits from integrated regional development.

Regional synergy empowers enterprises across the Changchun Metropolitan Area, with sci-tech innovation platforms driving local industrial upgrading. Leveraging the high-quality resources and platforms of the metropolitan area, research institutes based in Changchun are accelerating the commercialization of agricultural research achievements, injecting technological momentum into rural revitalization and specialty agriculture. Many visitors stopped at the booth of the Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education for Edible and Medicinal Fungi, Jilin Agricultural University, attracted by various edible mushrooms including enoki mushrooms and white shimeiji mushrooms, along with their processed products, featuring novel forms and diverse types. In recent years, the center has drawn on the core research achievements of Li Yu, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, to carry out the breeding of new edible mushroom varieties, the research and development of standardized cultivation techniques, and their industrial application and promotion in the cities of the metropolitan area, including Jilin and Liaoyuan, supporting the large-scale and standardized development of specialty agriculture across the region.

Possessing uniquely high-quality black soil resources, the Changchun Modern Metropolitan Area serves as a core grain production zone of vital importance to Jilin Province and even the whole country. Research institutes across the province and the agricultural departments of the four cities have been advancing the implementation of multiple national- and provincial-level key agricultural research projects within the metropolitan area. At the exhibition area for achievements by academicians and the Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, maize plants stand upright in neat rows. Such vigorous growth lies in the strong support of agricultural science and technology. In recent years, the Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences has established national observation and research stations, regional trial stations, and demonstration bases for main grain crops across the metropolitan area. The academy has promoted the technology of returning maize straw to field by deep tillage and fertilizer irrigation system. Through advances in agricultural science and technology, the academy has improved the quality of agricultural products and strengthened the supply foundation of high-quality produce across the metropolitan area.

During this year's Agricultural Expo, the Press Conference on Collaborative Development of the Agricultural Industry in the Changchun Modern Metropolitan Area was successfully held, building consensus and pooling strength for regional agricultural integration. Looking ahead, the four cities of Changchun, Jilin, Siping, and Liaoyuan will build on the development model of "R&D in Changchun + planting and breeding within the metropolitan area + collaborative processing + unified market expansion." They will deepen cross-regional industrial collaboration, build industrial cluster platforms, and establish complete agricultural industry chains, striving to build new advantages in regional agricultural development and provide robust support for the integrated, high-quality, and sustainable development of agriculture in the Changchun Modern Metropolitan Area.

Source: Changchun News  Editor: Liu Jiadi