August 19, 2025, Lu Network News (Reporter Wang Yulong), Translated by KIMI and Yunbi Xu

Collaborative cultivation bears fruit; science and technology open a new chapter in revitalizing agriculture. On 18 August 2025, the Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences (PKU-IAAS) held its Open Day & Achievements Exhibition in Xianshan District, Weifang, Shandong. The event showcased, in one sweeping panorama, the innovative harvest of an agricultural-research dream team over the past several years. Since the signing of the joint-establishment agreement on 18 August 2017 between the People’s Government of Shandong Province and Peking University, the Institute has advanced steadily. Today it is a powerhouse of modern agricultural science: nearly 900 researchers, 44 independent research groups, and a reputation that reaches far beyond China’s borders.

 

From Blueprint to Reality: A Modern Agriculture Institute Rises by Xianshan Lake
Beside the mist-covered expanse of Xianshan Lake, a gleaming agricultural-research palace now stands. The agreement that created it was signed on 18 August 2017 in Jinan. Yet the story begins even earlier. In late 2014, Peking University resolved to found a School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences and sought a partner region with advanced farming credentials. In July 2015, Prof. Xing Wang Deng — today the Institute’s director — visited Weifang. He was impressed by the area’s agricultural strengths, educational climate, and geographic advantages. After intensive negotiations, construction began in June 2018 on the shores of Xianshan Lake.

 

Every level of government gave the project top priority. The Shandong provincial government classified PKU-IAAS as a non-benefit public institution, guaranteeing staffing and operating funds. Xianshan District contributed dozens of hectares of land for three consecutive years as its “Number One” on their work list. The resulting “provincial coordination, local support, joint university-district construction” model laid a rock-solid foundation.

 

In July 2021, PKU-IAAS officially opened, and on the same day the Shandong Laboratory of Advanced Agriculture Sciences in Weifang — hosted by PKU-IAAS — was inaugurated. In just a few years the Institute has built: • 71,000 m² of laboratories, and support facilities including

l 20,000 m² of the Phoenix Research & Development Center

l 1,200+ mu of breeding trial fields

l 5,000 m² of smart greenhouses

l 64 controlled-environment growth chambers

l 16 tissue-culture rooms

l 5,000+ cutting-edge instruments — cryo-electron microscopes, full-spectrum mass-spectrometry suites, confocal microscopes—putting hardware on par with the world’s best.

 

“Turning a blueprint into brick, mortar and living science has demanded the wisdom and sweat of countless people,” Director Deng remarked emotionally at the Open Day. As Peking University’s first high-end agricultural institute outside Beijing, PKU-IAAS follows the model of “Study at Peking University; intern in Weifang.” Its mission: solve major problems in advanced agriculture and train world-class researchers. Today the vision is becoming true — an international-level core team, world-class research environment, and a cradle of agricultural innovation.

 

Innovation-Driven Growth: Breakthroughs Across the Agricultural Spectrum
At the 18 August exhibition, seven experts — Drs. Shisheng Chen, Yun Deng, Lingyang Feng, Lugang Zhang, Changxian Yang, Jialin Yu and Wenxiu Ye —presented cutting-edge results from their groups: cloning key wheat genes and creating new germplasm; breeding melon, fruit and vegetable varieties; strip-intercropping systems for maize and soybean; precision farm machinery, and more.

Wheat: The Institute has created the third-generation hybrid wheat breeding system — nine patents already granted — promising higher yield and better quality to buttress national food security.

 

Maize: Researchers have revolutionized popcorn breeding and developed the world’s first strip-intercropping “clean-field” system for maize/soybean, dramatically improving land-use efficiency.

 

Melons & vegetables: Scientists produced the world’s first gap-free watermelon reference genome and the first saturated watermelon mutant library, leading to multiple new watermelon cultivars.

 

Tomatoes: “Beishi No.1” flavor tomato won the Gold Award for “Best-Tasting Tomato” at the 2025 China Seed Congress. Experts describe its flavor as “nine parts sweet, one part sour.” In a pilot plot at Datang Picking Garden, Zashan Subdistrict, it fetches 32 RMB per kg.

 

Grapes: The Grape Germplasm Innovation & Utilization Key Laboratory released the first telomere-to-telomere haplotype genome and a pan-genome for the entire Vitis genus, clarifying stomatal immunity mechanisms and identifying key genes for downy-mildew resistance and water-use efficiency. Resistant table-grape and wine-grape varieties are already in commercial production.

 

These achievements rest on seven shared technology platforms and the seamless collaboration of 44 independent groups. PKU-IAAS has forged a full innovation chain — talent development, basic science, technology breakthroughs, commercial translation — delivering concrete benefits to local agriculture.

 

Fengniannian Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. is one beneficiary. CEO Yang Li explains: “In March 2022 we came from Beijing to Weifang because ‘Shandong sets the pace for agriculture in China, and Weifang leads the way in Shandong.’ Because of PKU-IAAS, we located our headquarters in Xianshan.” Under the guidance of professors Xingping Zhang and Xiping Wang, the company began blueberry breeding, then pivoted to medicinal Epimedium. PKU-IAAS experts provided germplasm resources, plant-tissue-culture protocols, and analytical methods for active compounds. Within one year Fengniannian built a complete Epimedium seedling system — an “impossible” timeline without PKU-IAAS’s knowledge base.

 

Deep Institute-District Integration: Science Empowers Rural Revitalization
Rooted in Weifang, PKU-IAAS treats local service as a core mission. Over eight years, the Institute and the Xianshan District government have forged a close partnership, exploring how science can power rural revitalization.

 

The District has created the “Institute-District Co-construction · Talent for Village Revival” alliance, pairing 32 rural communities with PKU-IAAS research groups. Experts have delivered 170+ technical services, cutting production costs by roughly 15%, and co-developed over forty hectares of breeding bases. Twenty-eight communities have pilot-planted 32,000 seedlings of new varieties, expected to boost per-hectare income by more than 60,000 RMB.

 

Zashan Subdistrict is a flagship example. This year alone it has signed multiple agreements with PKU-IAAS on seed multiplication and technology transfer. Field visits by PKU-IAAS scientists cover every stage from germination to pest control. “Beishi No.1” tomatoes and mini-watermelons have already succeeded in Zashan, becoming local “science stars.”

 

In Xishu Village, Taibaozhuang Subdistrict, the village managers lead the Ruihechun Fruit & Vegetable Cooperative. Since 2023 the cooperative has planted PKU-IAAS watermelon varieties “Weimei W102” and “Weimei W106” – high yield, superb taste. When they hit the market in early August they sold out at 27.8 RMB per kilo. The village manager Huanjun Wang says that over the past few years, new PKU-IAAS varieties of watermelon, Chinese cabbage, cucumber and tomato have added nearly one million RMB to their income.

 

Mr. Yongguang Li, head of the PKU-IAAS Management Service Center and Director of the Xianshan District Management Committee, states: “The innovative DNA of the Institute is injecting powerful momentum into our ‘three zones in one’ strategy — production park, living community and ecological scenic area — creating a new rural-revitalization path for reservoir areas.”

 

On this new starting line, PKU-IAAS aims higher. Its ten-year plan: “Become a world-renowned agricultural research institute.” Research will deepen the integration of basic and applied science, focusing on national priorities such as food security and green development, cracking more critical technologies.

 

Xianshan District, for its part, will deepen the institute-district partnership, leveraging all 44 research groups. Relying on the Nongbo Golden Street Sci-Tech Center and Xianshan Lake Agricultural Development Company, the District will build a 100,000-mu modern high-efficiency agriculture corridor and ensure rapid on-site translation of PKU-IAAS varieties.

 

At the Open Day, Director Deng looked to the future with confidence: “We have blazed a trail of university-local cooperation powered by innovation. Going forward, PKU-IAAS will continue to serve national strategy and regional development, striving to become a world-leading agricultural science and technology hub, making greater contributions to national food security and agricultural modernization.”

 

Starting from the shores of Xianshan Lake, supported by province, city and district, the PKU-IAAS is writing a magnificent chapter on revitalizing agriculture through science. On this land of hope, the “flowers of technology” will surely bear even richer “fruits of industry,” injecting endless innovative energy into rural revitalization and agricultural modernization.