2015 Beijing world potato congress one-hundred-day countdown was held in Yanqing, Beijing on April 18, 2015. Representatives from the ministry of agriculture, Beijing municipal people's government, Yanqing county people's government and other organizers and support organizations took part in the event. From July 28 to 30, 2015, the WPC will be held in Yanqing Badaling International Conference and Exhibition Center. More than 3000 experts and entrepreneurs representatives of the potato industry from more than 40 countries are expected to attend the events.

        World potato congress is held once every three years and this year is the 9th gathering. The theme of 2015 Beijing world potato congress is “facing future, joint development”; its agenda includes academic conference, trade, exhibition, industry tours, etc.

        Up to now, 221 delegates more than 30 countries such as Netherlands, Canada, Australia etc. have successfully registered into the congress; 122 academic theses of 17 countries such as the United States, Canada, Russia, New Zealand, Israel, Iran, Bangladesh have been collected for the congress, and more than 50 experts have been identified as the key spokesmen for nine symposiums. Trade show of the congress has attracted many enterprises related to potato at home and abroad, and now the reserved area is more than 10000 square meters with more than 100 companies registered for exhibition, including foreign delegations from Netherlands, Germany and UK. The well-known enterprises within the potato industry both at home and abroad, including Bayer, Dupont and Syngenta, Basf and other 19 enterprises have joined the sponsorship program.

        The construction of Asia-pacific center of the international potato center is now on active progress and is expected to complete during the congress. The completion of the Asia-pacific center will help to promote the development of potato industry in China and its influence in the world. With the help of the international potato center, the Asia-pacific center will also build a potato planting repository to store tens of thousands of kinds of potato germplasm resources, which will greatly promote our ability to research and develop new varieties of potato. 

        The end of July in Yanqing of Beijing would be a great gathering for potato industry. World Potato Congress, China Potato Expo, China Potato Congress and potato staple foods conference will be held during the same period, which is a major highlight of 2015 Beijing WPC. As part of the conference, there will be potato industry tours to visit two potato producing areas in Saibei and Chabei of Zhangjiakou of Hebei province, which will help to promote local awareness of the potato industry and promote the coordinated development of Beijing and Hebei.

        In response to the starting of national strategy to make potato one of the staple foods, the trade exhibition of this conference will set up a “potato staple food exhibiting and tasting area” and 11 kinds of potato food such as the traditional French fries and potato chips, potato puree and potato porridge, steamed noodles, anthocyanins, etc. will be showed to visitor to help the public to understand and share potato food products.