WND-led agricultural robotics forum held in Portugal

Participants experience advanced technology during the 2026 Europe-China Agricultural Robotics Forum. [Photo/WeChat account: xinwu_wx]

The 2026 Europe-China Agricultural Robotics Forum (ECARF 2026), led by the Smart Agricultural Robot Research Institute of the Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Center in Wuxi New District, took place on Sept 25 at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, under the theme "Bridging Innovation and Adoption of Agricultural Robotics".

Zhang Jianwei, an academician of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering (Acatech) and a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, delivered a keynote speech titled "Bringing Multimodal Embodied Intelligence to Sustainable Agriculture".

Experts from the University of Coimbra, Tsinghua University, Sinomach, United Kingdom-based Antobot, Portugal's Frutas Pilar and Anglia Ruskin University in the UK delivered presentations on topics including the current development of the agricultural robotics industry, cluster-based commercialization, core components of intelligent equipment, technological innovation in protected agriculture and smart farming systems.

Scholars and representatives from farms and companies in China, the UK, Portugal and Spain also took part in roundtable dialogues on "Scaling Up Agricultural Robotics in China and Europe" and "From Innovation to Real-World Applications".

Mauricio Marques, a member of the Portuguese Parliament and chairman of its Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries, said the forum had built a bridge for cooperation among Chinese and European companies, research institutions and Portuguese organizations, marking an important step for Portugal's agricultural sector in engaging with Asian markets and strengthening international cooperation.

Three China-Europe cooperation initiatives were also announced at the forum: a global talent development program, an international research cooperation project on probabilistic perception technologies for agricultural robots, and a strategic cooperation initiative for the China-Europe agricultural robotics industry.