Workers are packing and packaging Longjing tea. Amid the misty spring tea gardens brimming with fragrance, at Chajingtang Company in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, tea farmers sort and process freshly picked pre-Qingming Longjing leaves. Workers skillfully pack the sealed tea, with each package neatly labeled with a commitment compliance certificate featuring a "Zhejiang Agricultural Code." Scanning the code reveals comprehensive information including the plantation base, harvest time, and pesticide residue test results. This small certificate acts as an "ID card" for Shaoxing's agricultural product quality and safety, exemplifying the city's efforts to establish a comprehensive, intelligent, and high-standard supervision system.
In recent years, Shaoxing has utilized the commitment compliance certificate to innovatively develop a "three-promotion, three-integration, three-optimization" work system, creating a full-chain traceability supervision model. All 2,518 large-scale agricultural entities in the city now fully implement the commitment compliance certificate system. In 2025, both national and provincial routine risk monitoring of local agricultural products achieved a 100% pass rate, ensuring greater safety for public consumption of vegetables, fruits, and tea.
Strengthening defenses through grid management enables comprehensive oversight without blind spots. The foundation of agricultural product quality safety lies at the grassroots level, with supervision being key. Shaoxing has established a city-county-town-village four-tier supervision system using grid management, extending responsibility to the fields and production sites for complete coverage. As a National Agricultural Product Quality Safety County, Shangyu District created a modern supervision system combining "three-level grids, precise testing, and full-process tracing." It formed a "1+1+N" agricultural safety grid team—comprising one supervisor, one tester, and several village coordinators—ensuring adequate staffing at each level. With coordinators based in the fields, supervision reaches the grassroots. In 2025, inspections covered 432 production entities, keeping oversight consistently active.
Yuecheng District reinforced responsibility across seven agricultural townships, achieving full grid management. In 2025, it assigned seven township supervisors and 126 village coordinators, providing training in grid supervision and rapid drug residue testing for aquatic products. Management systems were prominently displayed, streamlining frontline supervision. Shaoxing established a three-tier agricultural law enforcement system of "city-level guidance, county-level enforcement, and township inspections," launching a "Quality and Safety Protect Agriculture" campaign. This increased inspection frequency for high-risk varieties during harvest and integrated certificate verification into daily supervision, law enforcement, and sampling. In 2025, inspections covered 444 agricultural entities with 990 law enforcement deployments, compelling producers to uphold quality safety responsibilities through regular and precise checks.
Collaboration between Shaoxing's agricultural and market regulatory departments focuses on joint inspections and information sharing for wholesale markets and key products, building a "production-circulation-consumption" full-chain supervision framework. Currently, six key product categories and 71 agricultural entities have fully linked "Zhejiang Agricultural Code" with "Zhejiang Food Chain" traceability. Commitment compliance certificate usage reached 67.5% in four major wholesale markets, with 100% certificate issuance by local producers, extending oversight from field to table.
Digital empowerment upgrades intelligent supervision efficiency. In Shaoxing, digital traceability is standard, accelerating the transition to smart oversight. The city promotes "Zhejiang Agricultural Code" traceability applications, integrating data on producers, cultivation records, supervision tests, and sales to connect pre-production, production, and post-production stages. This creates a traceability loop with "traceable origins, trackable destinations, and accountable responsibilities." In 2025, 282,000 batches of certificates were printed via the code.
Shaoxing optimized "convenience-style" stations, strengthening a service network centered on "township testing stations and village service points." At Gaibei Town's agricultural service center, a "farm safety convenience store" equipped with rapid colloidal gold pesticide residue testers and self-service certificate printers allows farmers to "test on arrival, print after testing, and market with certificates." Feiyuezha Village in Ma'an Street piloted self-service certificate printers, providing free services for smallholders. Digital equipment enables small farmers to easily join the traceability system, significantly reducing time and costs.
Intelligent supervision platforms add a technological edge. Xinchang County pioneered the "Farm Safety Xinchang" app, guiding township supervisors in digital grid inspections. They upload inspection records, test data, and photos, dynamically updating the producer database for remote monitoring and precise coordination. Shaoxing links agricultural testing information with "Zhejiang Agricultural Code" certificates, using test data to enhance certificate credibility.
On the enterprise side, Zhejiang Xiyingtian Technology Co., Ltd., as a national pilot for quality traceability, established a full-process digital tracking system. It implements "one code per kiwifruit," allowing consumers to scan for full lifecycle information. At Yuetao Distribution Center's vegetable base, all products are coded before delivery to schools and government canteens, where clients scan to view production details. Digitalization makes quality safety visible and tangible.
Additionally, Shaoxing innovated with "fixed + mobile" testing, conducting "you submit, we test" rapid testing activities that bring digital services to the fields. In 2025, the city completed 10,950 quantitative tests and 68,000 qualitative tests, providing solid data support for smart supervision.
Brand integration enhances quality and adds value through full-chain development. Building on quality safety supervision, Shaoxing integrates oversight with industrial development and branding. Through standardized production, green transformation, and brand operations, safety becomes a core competitive advantage, aligning quality safety with industrial growth.
Green production is fundamental to quality safety. Shaoxing promotes agricultural green transformation, deepening "fertilizer and pesticide reform" by extending green pest control models and implementing "five actions" for sustainable aquaculture. Ecological cycles like "rice-fish co-culture" and "rice-duck symbiosis" are adopted. The city now boasts 231 green food certifications and 18 geographical indication products, with 39 high-quality agricultural production bases in the Yangtze River Delta and provincial levels.
Shengzhou Jiangxia Water Bamboo Shoot Cooperative uses organic fertilizer and regular soil-water testing, earning national pollution-free and green food certifications. Benchmark enterprises like Zhejiang Feiyi Ecological Agriculture Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Yongning Brothers Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. have multiple green food certifications, adhering to strict standards as modern agricultural demonstration bases in the Yangtze River Delta.
Shaoxing Yuchacun Tea Co., Ltd. led or participated in drafting one national standard for "Matcha," three provincial standards including "Matcha Evaluation Technical Specifications," two Shaoxing local standards such as "Steamed Green Tea," and two Zhejiang manufacturing group standards, plus over ten enterprise standards, driving industry standardization.
Branding ensures premium agricultural products gain recognition and market value. Shaoxing implements a three-year action for "Zhejiang Agricultural Code" to cover local specialties, merging traceability with branding via a "3+7+X" full-industry chain. Xinchang County explores "Zhejiang Agricultural Code + Dafo Longjing" integration, with 44 tea enterprises achieving over 10% brand premium. In 2025, "Dafo Longjing" brand value rose to 5.942 billion yuan, ranking eighth among national regional tea brands. Shangyu District created the "Shangyu Shangpin" regional public brand covering ten categories and 150 varieties, achieving "one item, one code" traceability. In 2025, brand sales hit 110 million yuan, driving overall sales of 158 million yuan and total output value exceeding 1 billion yuan.
Policy incentives encourage quality and branding. Shaoxing includes traceability management in city-level incentives for high-quality agricultural development, awarding 5,000 yuan to exemplary entities. To date, 287 entities have been recognized, with total bonuses of 2.48 million yuan, fostering a market trend of "certified purchases, premium prices."
From tea gardens to orchards, field to table, Shaoxing reinforces quality safety through full-chain supervision, enhances efficiency via digital tools, and invigorates industry with branding. Every Shaoxing agricultural product now carries a safety assurance to market. Today, the "Zhejiang Agricultural Code" is a "trust code" for consumer confidence, safeguarding dietary safety while supporting high-quality agricultural development and rural revitalization.
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