For twenty years, CAC has forged ahead, witnessing the Chinese agrochemical industry enter a new stage of development.

“The past two decades have witnessed profound transformations in the global chemical industry and rapid growth in China’s agrochemical sector. Over this period, the main business revenue of China’s petrochemical industry surged from RMB 554.8 billion in 1999 to RMB 16.4 trillion in 2018. Meanwhile, China’s fertilizer industry expanded from RMB 11 billion in 1999 to RMB 308 billion in 2017, with steadily improving innovation capabilities and advancing green development. The integration of next-generation information technologies, intelligent manufacturing, and China’s drive for high-quality development is profoundly reshaping the landscape of the country’s agrochemical industry, heralding new prospects and a brighter future for the sector,” summarized Zhao Jungui, Vice President and Secretary-General of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, at yesterday’s plenary session of the 20th China International Agrochemical & Crop Protection Exhibition (CAC 2019) held in Shanghai, highlighting the key developments and changes in China’s agrochemical industry over the last two decades.

Li Shousheng, President of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, outlined the development of China’s agrochemical and fertilizer sectors: In 2018, the industry entered a new phase of transformation and upgrading, largely achieving its goal of phasing out outdated fertilizer production capacity and addressing severe overcapacity, with supply and demand reaching a basic equilibrium. That year, China’s total fertilizer output stood at 54.596 million tonnes, down 5.2% year on year, while pesticide production totaled 2.083 million tonnes, a decline of 9.5% compared with the previous year. Overall output of agrochemical products has been effectively brought under control, and the sector’s ongoing supply-side structural reforms are beginning to yield tangible results.

The level of innovation in the agrochemical industry has improved markedly, with significant progress made across technology, equipment, processes, environmental protection, and the development of green pesticides. In addition, the industrial structure of the sector has been substantially optimized: China’s agricultural fertilizer industry has focused on supply-side structural reform, phasing out outdated capacity, strictly controlling new capacity additions, and continuously refining its industrial mix. As a result, plant‑scale and concentration levels, automation capabilities, and capacity utilization rates have all seen substantial improvements. Finally, the quality of agrochemical services has risen sharply. The industry is gradually moving away from a product‑centric business model, with an increasingly integrated approach that combines products, technologies, and services. Today, many fertilizer companies can offer end-to-end solutions—including soil testing, customized formulations, fertilizer blending, supply, application, warehousing, and delivery—and are further expanding into more advanced areas such as agricultural finance, agri‑product logistics, and sales platforms.

Li Shousheng also outlined the challenges facing the agrochemical industry in the years ahead, forecasting that over the next few years, the total volume of fertilizer and pesticide use in agriculture will continue to decline. At the same time, the state is imposing increasingly stringent requirements on the efficiency of fertilizer and pesticide application. Under this new landscape of high-quality development, China’s fertilizer and pesticide enterprises are confronted with a series of pressing demands—strategic innovation, technological advancement, managerial reform, and the transformation of service models. Market competition has intensified, technological innovation is accelerating, efficiency‑driven management is becoming ever more refined, and safety and environmental standards are being tightened. As a result, the pressures and incentives for internal growth have reached levels unseen in any previous period.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the successful hosting of the CAC Exhibition. Ma Chunyan, Vice President of the Chemical Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, presented to the attendees an overview of CAC’s two-decade development journey.

After 20 years of development, this year’s CAC has attracted 1,475 exhibiting companies—21 times the number at the inaugural show in 1999—and has hosted more than 13,000 exhibitor participations. Over the same period, the exhibition space has expanded to 80,000 square meters, 40 times the area of the first event in 1999, with a cumulative display area approaching one million square meters. The fair has evolved from showcasing traditional pesticides and fertilizers to now featuring eight major thematic zones, covering agrochemicals and intermediates, advanced fertilizers, agricultural aviation, irrigation systems, seed trade and processing technologies, biopesticides, biological control methods, and more—creating a one-stop platform for end-to-end industry‑wide trade and collaboration. Over the past two decades, CAC has organized more than 100 specialized conferences, drawing a total of 30,000 attendees. During this time, its international profile has steadily grown, welcoming over 100,000 buyers from more than 20 countries. As CAC’s global influence has strengthened, it has attracted not only buyers but also an increasing number of international exhibitors; over the past 20 years, foreign exhibitors have totaled more than 1,000 participations, establishing CAC as a key global hub for agrochemical trade and exchange.

In addition to exhibitions, CAC has also contributed to the industry’s development. Taking the export of new‑type fertilizers as an example, CAC has spearheaded the export of water‑soluble fertilizers and other innovative products in recent years, with shipments now reaching nearly a hundred countries and regions. Furthermore, CAC has fostered innovation and advancement within China’s agrochemical sector, driving technological progress among enterprises and facilitating extensive global exchanges across the industry.