CIP China/Asia-Pacific Marks Third International Potato Day With Coordinated Push

The potato became only the second staple crop after rice to receive its own UN-designated global day when the General Assembly formalized International Potato Day in December 2023. May 30, 2026 marks the third observance, carrying the theme "Where Potatoes Grow, Livelihoods Flourish," with an explicit focus on grower livelihoods, value-chain upgrading and resilient food systems.

CCCAP (CIP China/Asia-Pacific) organized a cluster of activities around the day, coordinating with the FAO Representation in China, the Peruvian Embassy in China, and a roster of domestic industry and research bodies. The stated aim, per the organization's own framing, is to combine a global outlook with China-specific practice to push high-quality development of the potato sector while supporting global food security.

On May 29, CCCAP partnered with the FAO China office and the Peruvian Embassy to run a themed event at a Beijing No. 9 High School branch campus. The program covered the potato's origin and cultural history, displayed germplasm diversity, and used interactive quiz-style activities to introduce students to the crop's global value, nutritional role and food-security significance.

Xie Jianmin, director of CIP China/Asia-Pacific, personally showed students a range of diversified potato varieties during the visit, letting students and teachers directly observe the breadth of germplasm resources behind what the organization describes as a small tuber carrying large-scale security implications.

On May 30, a roundtable themed around celebrating International Potato Day and promoting industry development was convened by the CCCAP-affiliated Potato Industry Development Service Collaboration Network, jointly hosted with the China Agricultural Exhibition Association's Digital Rural Low-Altitude Industry Committee, a national think tank, and the organizing committee of the Three Tubers Conference.

Experts and industry leaders from more than ten organizations attended, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' Institute of Food and Nutrition, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences' Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, the National Food and Nutrition Advisory Committee, the China Starch Industry Association, the China Food Industry Association, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, the Asia Vegetarian Conference organizing committee, and the Chinese Food Industrialization Branch of the World Federation of Chinese Catering. Discussion spanned six areas: germplasm innovation, green production, deep processing, market circulation, brand building and international cooperation — framed as a plan for a virtuous cycle linking technology, industry efficiency, farmer income and consumption quality.

During what the source material calls Green Sustainable Consumption Promotion Week, CCCAP and the FAO China office worked with the China Chain Store & Franchise Association on a public communication campaign, now in its third consecutive year, aimed at embedding International Potato Day messaging into everyday consumption settings.

The campaign drew support from named retail chains including Ole Supermarket, BLT Supermarket and the Jiajiayue Group. More than 100 Ole Supermarket locations nationwide displayed related promotional materials, while Jiajiayue outlets including its Jiulongcheng and Weigao stores ran parallel in-store public displays. The stated goal was to shift public perception of the potato from a routine ingredient toward a crop tied to food security, nutrition, sustainability, biodiversity and resilient food systems.

CCCAP frames the 2026 observance as a new starting point, stating an intent to keep linking global resources and industry effort to push the potato toward what it calls a "nutrition tuber, prosperity tuber, and revitalization tuber" — upgrading the crop's role across food security, rural livelihoods and agricultural modernization.