Beijing - The suburban Pinggu District in eastern Beijing is renowned for its premium peaches, but what consumers who are impressed by the sweetness and juiciness of the fruit cultivated in the district's Xiying Village may not realize is that each bite carries the mark of a quiet technological revolution.

At the modern Xiying Future Orchard, small weather stations monitor environmental changes with precision. Major steps in the production process are mechanized, from furrowing to harvesting. Robots and drones are deployed on regular schedules to water the trees, apply fertilizers and spray foliar nutrients.

Pinggu's peach industry accounts for nearly half of Beijing's total fruit output value. However, Yu Yongqiang, director of the district's fruit services center, admits that the industry faces challenges in its sustainable development, including bottlenecks in large-scale cultivation and a labor shortage caused by an aging current workforce.

"The large-scale adoption of smart agricultural equipment, as seen in the Xiying Future Orchard, isn't optional anymore -- it's the future," Yu said.

That future is already unfolding across China. From the rice paddies of Heilongjiang to the tea plantations of Zhejiang, smart technology is reshaping how crops are grown, marking a decisive shift from the labor-intensive methods that long defined Chinese agriculture.

In Baise of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Huang Xianjun owns a 1,300-mu (86.67-hectare) mango orchard, where he has introduced smart farming equipment such as agricultural drones for crop protection. "The numbers speak for themselves," he said. "Our overall costs are down 30 percent, and we're getting more consistent yields."

The transformation is being driven by companies like XAG, a Guangzhou-based agritech firm that has emerged as a leader in China's smart machinery sector. Justin Gong, co-founder of XAG, has pointed to a striking shift in who is buying the technology.

"In 2021, about half our customers were professional operators, half were farmers," he said. "By 2025, 79 percent are growers themselves. They're using the equipment on their own land and selling services to others, creating a new kind of agricultural entrepreneur."

The Chinese government has also been stepping up its efforts to modernize agriculture. Earlier this year, the 2025 "No. 1 central document" -- China's key annual policy blueprint for agriculture, rural areas and farmers -- called for the development of "new quality productive forces" in agriculture, using a term that emphasizes technological innovation.

The document specifically mandates the accelerated development of domestic smart machinery and the expanded use of artificial intelligence, data analytics and low-altitude technologies in agriculture. Local governments, including Heilongjiang, Zhejiang and Sichuan, have also rolled out supportive policies for the development of smart agricultural machinery.

"New energy plus intelligence is a crucial path for the development of agricultural equipment," Gong noted. In his view, the realization of agricultural intelligence requires solid data infrastructure, precise smart agricultural equipment and intelligent agricultural production models.

As a key component of data infrastructure, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has greatly facilitated the operation of smart agricultural machinery. By the end of 2023, the number of agricultural machines equipped with BDS terminals across the country totaled 2.2 million.

China's agricultural machinery industry has also been expanding steadily. Industrial data shows that the number of agricultural machinery enterprises in China with an annual main business revenue exceeding 20 million yuan (about 2.81 million U.S. dollars) had reached 2,271 by 2024.

The country's booming smart agriculture sector is helping farmers worldwide. China's exports of agricultural machinery and parts totaled 9.305 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2025, representing a year-on-year growth of 26.5 percent. XAG, in one example of related success, has exported its smart products and services to 70 countries and regions around the world.

According to Gong, the Agritechnica, a trade fair for agricultural machinery held in Hanover, Germany, is an important barometer to gauge the international competitiveness of Chinese players. XAG has participated in multiple Agritechnica sessions, and its booth area has expanded each time. This year, the company also plans to showcase new products in Hanover.

"It is evident that the number of Chinese enterprises participating in the exhibition is constantly increasing," Gong said.

This growth reflects more than just manufacturing prowess, Gong emphasized. "Our R&D has caught up fast," he said. "China is poised to become a global hub for the R&D, manufacturing and application of smart agriculture."