First "SCO Plus" meeting held in Astana

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held its first "Plus" format meeting at the Palace of Independence in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday.

The SCO Plus format included SCO member states, SCO observers and dialogue partner states. Participants also included the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, other heads of international organizations, as well as some guests of Kazakhstan's presidency.

The participants posed for a group photo before the meeting took place.

Southwest China's Yunnan Provinces, the largest coffee growing area in the country, is blessed with high altitudes and a favorable climate ideal for cultivating high-quality coffee beans.

By introducing advanced production technologies and processing machinery, the province has improved local coffee quality and the industry has rapidly expanded in recent years.

In 2022, Yunnan had a total coffee cultivation area of about 7.6 million hectares and its annual output of raw coffee beans exceeded 140,000 tonnes, making a total output value of more than 37 billion yuan (about 5.1 billion U.S. dollars).

Local authorities have launched a series of preferential policies and measures to improve conditions for the coffee producers, operators and growers, and promote sustained and healthy development of the industry.

Expert teams and training courses have also been rolled out over the years across the province to ensure the high-quality development of the industry.

"We provide subsidies for coffee producers with organic certification and green certification, and also offer support for those who cultivate high-quality varieties. Additionally, we have introduced six major policies and measures aimed at promoting the rate of premium coffee production and enhancing the level of deep processing," said Xia Bing, head of an expert team overseeing the development of Yunnan's coffee industry.

"We have been promoting the cultivation of high-quality varieties and adopting best agricultural practices to improve the premium rate. And we prioritize the cultivation of varieties such as Geisha and Tipica, in order to comprehensively enhance the flavor and quality of coffee," said Huang Jiaxiong, a senior coffee expert at the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

In 2023, the percentage of premium coffee produced in Yunnan surged from less than 8 percent to 22.7 percent, while the global average for premium coffee production is only around 10 percent of all coffee grown.

With big improvements in the quality and efficiency of Yunnan's coffee production, its little wonder that the sector is reaching out to international markets.

"What we need to learn is not only the planting technologies, but also the idea of consumption in the international market," said Wang Jiawei, an official from the government of Xinzhai Village in Baoshan City.

In Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood, one of the must-visit destinations in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Yun Cafe is popular with locals and tourists alike enjoying coffee brewed from Yunnan beans.

"It's blended so good. This is very nice, and I am already a coffee lover, and this coffee is absolutely good," said a female patron at the cafe.

"This area for tourism, they are coming for tourism and they are walk-in customers. Every time they want to try the new things, they like the taste," said the owner of the cafe.