The Governor of Heilongjiang Province Wang Wentao delivered a speech and announced the opening of the international rice festival on October 10, 2019, in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Photo: Shi Haohong/GT

An international rice festival held in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, kicked off on Thursday.

The festival, which will last for five days, aims to build an international exchange platform by gathering more than 3,000 representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and rice experts, exhibitors and buyers from more than 10 countries and regions, including Japan, Thailand, the US, the Philippines, South Korea, Cambodia, Russia and South Africa

Through the platform, which was established by the government, rice experts and the industry, green technologies will take the lead in Heilongjiang's rice industry to enhance the competitiveness of rice produced in the province.

Those who do not attend can also participate in the festival through an offline and multi-dimensional presentation offered by the organizers. As the festival began October 10, the Alibaba Group, the co-organizer of this event, integrated its online retail resources to create a "double 10" rice carnival, which emerged following Alibaba's famous double 11 shopping festival.

Alibaba has established a special zone for production during the international rice festival, on its online platform Tmall. At the same time, the shopping platform is hosting live-streams to show the quality products on display at the festival. Online and offline visitors can learn about products in the tasting area on the festival.

The international rice festival not only showcases China's high-quality rice to the world, but also brings the world's high-quality rice planting technology to China. Heilongjiang Province, one of the main rice producers in China, has vowed to show the world more high-quality rice in the future by developing the industry through innovation.