The city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province will be holding a forum on rice sales, on July 17, to find new approaches to one of its most important agricultural products, according to a local media report of July 14, which adds that the meeting will focus on analyzing this traditional industry and looking for better marketing and branding solutions.

It will also look at improving rice packaging via information technology, which is in line with China’s “Internet Plus” action plan announced earlier this month, meaning integrating agriculture with a range of technology, such as the mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data and the Internet of Things.

The forum will also see an opening ceremony for an e-commerce rice industry alliance, a part of the China Electronic Commerce Association. The alliance was first arranged back on April 27 for rice processing, trade, storage, R&D, and related items.