36Kr Going Global · Global Companies | In Rome, Pinduoduo Tells the "Story of Chinese Agriculture"
If someone asks what the future of agriculture looks like, perhaps the answer lies in a moment at the 2025 World Food Forum (2025WFF).
This month, at the Food and Agriculture Innovation Contest held at the headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Wang Haiwei, the vice president of enterprise development at Pinduoduo, as a judge, asked an Indian startup team, "What is the user renewal rate of your AI system for identifying poultry sounds?"
This question about commercialization brought the attention at the scene back from cutting - edge technology to the most fundamental business logic. It not only represents Pinduoduo's perspective on agricultural innovation but also leads to a deeper topic: As an e - commerce platform, how does Pinduoduo itself connect the world's most cutting - edge agricultural technologies with the most basic commercial realities?
This year, Pinduoduo was invited to attend the World Food Forum for the second time as a representative of Asian enterprises, serving both as a speaker and a judge. Why has Pinduoduo been able to play a key role at the world's highest - level agricultural event for two consecutive years? And what kind of "Chinese agricultural story" has it brought to Rome?
Wang Haiwei, the vice president of enterprise development at Pinduoduo, delivered a keynote speech at the Science and Innovation Forum. Source: Provided by the enterprise
From starting with agricultural products to agricultural research innovation: Pinduoduo's "agricultural gene"
In Wang Haiwei's words, Pinduoduo's connection with agriculture begins with an inherent "mud - on - the - legs" gene.
In 2022, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) awarded the annual innovation award of the World Food Forum to Pinduoduo, making it the only corporate winner of this award globally that year. The recognition from an international authoritative institution made the outside world start to examine this e - commerce platform's in - depth layout in the agricultural field.
During this year's World Food Forum, Wang Haiwei explained to the media the platform's original intention for continuous investment in agriculture: "Pinduoduo started with agricultural products, and agriculture has always been the core strategy." This strategic positioning determines that while Pinduoduo solves the "last mile" problem of agricultural product sales, it is also tracing back to the upstream of the industry, trying to penetrate into the "first mile" of technological innovation.
Pinduoduo has chosen a complex path: by building a series of high - level competition platforms, it brings together the world's agricultural innovation forces.
- Since 2020, Pinduoduo has supported the Global Agricultural Startup Contest jointly hosted by the FAO and Zhejiang University for five consecutive years. This contest has now become an important intersection of global agricultural innovation ideas. In 2025, the contest attracted 519 applications from 97 countries and regions, a three - fold increase compared to previous years.
- Meanwhile, the Duoduo Agricultural Research Science and Technology Contest hosted by Pinduoduo itself focuses more on the commercialization of cutting - edge agricultural technologies. In the fifth contest in 2025, the participating teams were required to submit a complete plant factory construction plan and a domestic strawberry cultivation plan, challenging to achieve AI - based strawberry cultivation in a 50 - square - meter artificial light plant factory.
- In addition, Pinduoduo has supported the National Science and Technology Small Courtyard Contest for three consecutive sessions. This contest encourages agricultural postgraduate students to go deep into rural areas, live and work with farmers, and solve practical problems in production. This year, a mechanism of an academician flight team was introduced in the national competition stage, organizing expert groups to conduct on - site inspections of short - listed projects, shifting the evaluation criteria from paper - based evaluation to scenario - based efficiency evaluation.
In August this year, the final roadshow of the "2025 Global Agricultural Startup Contest" concluded in Hangzhou. Source: Provided by the enterprise
From global innovation concepts, to cutting - edge science in the laboratory, to practical applications in the fields, the three contests precisely cover the entire process of agricultural technology from theory to practice. This precisely reflects Pinduoduo's understanding of agricultural innovation: Simple capital investment or traffic support is difficult to fundamentally solve the bottleneck of agricultural production efficiency. Only by building an open platform and letting the wisdom of different fields collide with each other can we truly generate sparks that can change the industry.
Behind this is the strategic extension of Pinduoduo as a platform - type company. It tries to transmit the data and user insights accumulated on the consumer side to the upstream production side, thus opening up a feedback link from demand to production. And agricultural technology is the key link connecting this chain.
In April this year, Pinduoduo announced the launch of the "100 - billion support" plan, providing a more solid guarantee for this exploration. This plan clearly states that it will increase special funds to support the innovation, application, and promotion of cutting - edge technologies.
In Gusheng Village, Dali, Yunnan, Pinduoduo supported the construction of the country's first Science and Technology Small Courtyard focusing on digital business. The students in the Science and Technology Small Courtyard developed a nutrient intelligent management and control system, which uses digital means to help local farmers fertilize scientifically and reduce agricultural pollution to Erhai Lake. This system is called the agricultural version of 12306 by local farmers. Farmers only need to place an order on their mobile phones, and the system can generate a precise fertilization plan based on information such as the plot location and the crops planted, and deliver the fertilizer to their door within 30 minutes.
In addition to technical support, the "100 - billion support" plan also focuses on talent cultivation. Pinduoduo supports the talent cultivation action plan for strengthening agriculture and revitalizing the countryside in Science and Technology Small Courtyards, encouraging agricultural postgraduate students to return to the countryside to start businesses after graduation. For example, Yang Jing, an agricultural postgraduate student, is now using the Pinduoduo platform to sell 22 high - quality agricultural products from 9 Science and Technology Small Courtyards across the country to more distant places.
Through these specific measures, Pinduoduo precisely invests the funds of the "100 - billion support" plan in every link of agricultural production and talent cultivation, ensuring that those agricultural technology concepts focusing on the future can receive practical support to cross the "valley of death".
Two types of new - generation farmers, a platform for two - way interaction
When technology collides with the countryside, two types of "new - generation farmers" with very different backgrounds meet on the Pinduoduo platform.
One type is the technology - oriented group facing codes. The "Science and Innovation Forum" is one of the flagship events of the World Food Forum. At this year's forum, the "Muyuan Cloud Computing" team from China is a typical representative. They brought a real - time pig herd monitoring system, which uses AI vision technology to continuously monitor the subtle behaviors of each pig, such as drinking, eating, and socializing, 24 hours a day, advancing the disease early - warning time by a full 7 days. This system makes it possible for one breeder to efficiently manage tens of thousands of pigs.
The "Muyuan Cloud Computing" team shared how to achieve all - weather pig monitoring through AI. Source: Provided by the enterprise
The team members shared a piece of data on the spot: for every 1 yuan invested in R & D, it can bring 7 yuan of return to the industry. The "Muyuan Cloud Computing" team won the silver award in the 2025 Global Agricultural Startup Contest supported by Pinduoduo. They said frankly, "From Hangzhou, China, to Rome, Italy, the Global Agricultural Startup Contest has provided us with a global perspective and let us see the huge potential of technology in the agricultural field."
The other type is the market - oriented group facing the screen. They are the "new agricultural merchants" who are rooted in the countryside and familiar with e - commerce. They keenly capture market demand and use Pinduoduo to sell high - quality agricultural products from their hometowns across the country. The post - 95s new - generation farmers in Laiyang, Shandong are the new force among them. They moved the live - streaming room to the pear orchard, and through continuous live - streaming, they can sell tens of thousands of boxes of Akizuki pears in a day. Their goal this year is to help local villagers sell 8,000 tons of Akizuki pears.
The rise of these "pear - selling experts" also benefits from the support of special actions such as Pinduoduo's "Duoduo Good Specialties". Platform data shows that with this support, the sales volume of high - quality agricultural products in the first half of 2025 increased by 47% year - on - year, and the number of post - 00s new agricultural merchants like them increased by more than 30%.
One group delves into technology internally, and the other explores the market externally. These two types of new - generation farmers, although seemingly on different paths, achieve two - way interaction on the Pinduoduo platform.
Wang Haiwei said in an interview with the media during the 2025WFF that this two - way interaction is not accidental. Relying on the "100 - billion support" plan, the platform supports technological iteration through the "10 - billion agricultural research" special project, encouraging the technology - oriented group to optimize solutions and reduce costs. At the same time, the platform reduces commissions and increases efficiency for the market - oriented group through the "10 - billion reduction" and various special activities, helping merchants sell high - quality agricultural products at good prices.
The technology - oriented group gets the opportunity to commercialize technology and a global stage through platforms such as the Duoduo Agricultural Research Science and Technology Contest and the Global Agricultural Startup Contest; the market - oriented group efficiently delivers high - quality agricultural products with technological support or geographical indications to consumers through the platform's massive users and mature e - commerce tools.
Technology empowers products, and the market guides technology. Ultimately, Pinduoduo constructs a full - chain ecosystem from scientific research innovation in the "first mile" to market sales in the "last mile".
The global effect of a "bridge"
Pinduoduo connects technology and the market in China. When this mechanism looks at the global scale, it begins to play a more grand role: building a bridge across geography and culture for young agricultural entrepreneurs scattered around the world.
The best footnote to this story is the young man Robinson from Peru.
In 2024, Robinson participated in the Global Agricultural Startup Contest jointly hosted by Pinduoduo with his team's drone pest identification technology and won the gold award. Then, with the support of Pinduoduo, he stepped onto the stage of the 2024 World Food Forum. This journey completely changed the trajectory of him and his team.
At the 2025WFF, Wang Haiwei mentioned this impressive young man again: "In July last year, they were still providing services for farmers in Peru. Soon, because of the Global Agricultural Startup Contest, they traveled across half of the globe to do a roadshow in Hangzhou, China. Then, they stepped onto the stage of the World Food Forum." Robinson's story doesn't end there. In May this year, he was invited to Dali, Yunnan, China, to participate in an agricultural startup training camp event hosted by Pinduoduo, and negotiated cooperation with Chinese agricultural enterprises, planning to officially introduce his technology into the Chinese market.
From the Andes Mountains, to the banks of the Qiantang River, to Rome, and finally to the area between Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake. The global journey of Robinson from Peru is exactly the specific effect that Pinduoduo can produce: providing bonuses and a stage, as well as a path to penetrate into the industry and connect global resources.
A bridge connecting technology, the market, and talent is extending from China to the broader world. On this bridge, technology finds application scenarios across borders, and talents get the opportunity to go global.
At this year's "Science and Innovation Forum", the "Verdia Diagnostics" team from the United States supported by Pinduoduo brought a portable nano - sensor technology, which can detect diseases 72 hours before symptoms appear by capturing trace gases released by plants. This technology made experts from various countries at the scene see that it can provide a new idea for low - cost and high - efficiency rapid disease detection in existing protected agriculture.
The bronze - award - winning team "Verdia Diagnostics" in the Global Agricultural Startup Contest won the silver award in the SIF Roadshow Contest again. Source: Provided by the enterprise
As Wang Haiwei said, international organizations, multinational enterprises, and scientific research institutions are working together to build a mechanism to help agricultural entrepreneurs cross borders and connect global resources. Pinduoduo is a key part of this mechanism. "We hope to build a bridge through the contest, so that the wisdom of global young agricultural entrepreneurs can flow to the fields, forming a closed - loop from ideas to experiments and then to the market, and promoting the progress of agricultural technology."
Pragmatic ideals, future farmers
From the codes in the laboratory, to the shouts in the live - streaming room, to the handshakes across mountains and seas, the new generation of farmers are injecting new connotations into the ancient word "farming" in their own ways. What Pinduoduo brought to Rome are vivid entrepreneurial stories and a pragmatic business logic.
In her speech at the 2025WFF, Wang Haiwei shared the platform's vision - "Cultivate a group of 'new - generation farmers' who understand technology, are down - to - earth, and have a digital vision, injecting continuous vitality into the transformation of China's and the global agricultural and food systems."
This is both a summary of the platform's past work and an expectation for the future. It clearly outlines Pinduoduo's long - termism in the agricultural field: insisting on technological empowerment and talent cultivation, allowing the minds that delve into cutting - edge science and the hands that till the land to meet and grow together here.
This pragmatic ideal is ultimately reflected in every specific achievement.
The picture of future agriculture may be hidden in the codes typed by the "cyber pig farmers" late at night, in the lively live - streaming rooms of the post - 95s new agricultural merchants, and in the eyes of those young people seeking cooperation from Peru to Yunnan.
What Pinduoduo does is to build a bridge to the future for these "new - generation farmers" from different fields, so that every tiny innovation can converge into the power to drive the entire industry forward.
Text | Chang Weiqian
Photos: Unsplash