AgroPages-Bayer Crop Science and Ant Financial Announce Partnership to Enhance Agriculture Industry with Joint Efforts to Develop Blockchain and Value Chain-Agricultural news

Hangzhou, China, September 25, 2019 – Bayer Crop Science today signed a Letter of Intent with Ant Blockchain to develop a trackable agricultural product monitoring and service system empowered by digital technology that will increase agriculture production efficiency, improve farmer’s income, and provide quality and safe food to consumers, assisting agriculture industry on the transformation in the new era.

The partnership will combine Bayer Crop Science’s cutting-edge portfolio, industrial chain resources, global leading digital farming planting and agronomic technology with Ant Financial’s industry-leading blockchain, advanced marketing, logistic and financing resource,which can jointly form blockchain and value chain through the digitization of production and logistic process.

September 25, 2019, Bayer Crop Science today signed a Letter of Intent with Ant Blockchain

“Entering into the agricultural strategic cooperation with Ant Financial makes Bayer the first agricultural company to combine the construction of agricultural blockchain and value chain,” said Weidong Huang, Bayer Crop Science Country Head of Greater China at the signing ceremony, “By working side by side, we strive to assist agriculture industry on the transformation in the new era, enhance the application of advanced agricultural technologies, increase agriculture production efficiency, improve farmer’s income, and protect food safety. With deepening the development of partnership, we look forward to working with more partners and consumers to form a new value chain of agricultural products market.

Weidong Huang, Bayer Crop Science Country Head of Greater China, addressed at the ceremony

Geoff Jiang, the vice president and General Manager of Intelligent Technology Group of Ant Financial, said, "We are excited to join hands with Bayer Crop Science to explore the application of blockchain technology in agriculture. Agriculture is the foundation of human civilization. Together with Bayer, our exploration of blockchain in agriculture will improve the transparency and responsiveness of its supply chain, and bring more value to consumers, farmers and the society."

Geoff Jiang, the vice president and General Manager of Intelligent Technology Group of Ant Financial, addressed at the ceremony

Bayer Crop Science, as one of Bayer’s three business divisions, adheres to the group's mission of "Science for A Better Life" and provides comprehensive solutions from seeds and traits, crop protection to digital farming technologies and services. In China, Bayer is dedicating to introducing advanced solutions and providing Chinese growers with scientific guidance of seeds, pesticide and pesticide safe use and environmental protection including planting skills and management; disease, pest and weed management to enhance crop health; crop protection application equipment to reduce waste and protect environment.

The coorperation between Bayer and Ant Financial in China may serve as an example for the world in unlocking the potential of blockchain and value chain for agriculture sector as a new technology, new application and new ecosystem.

About Bayer

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2018, the Group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of 39.6 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.6 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.2 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.

About Ant Financial

Ant Financial Services Group is dedicated to using technology to bring the world equal opportunities. Our technologies, including blockchain, artificial intelligence, security, Internet of Things and computing empower us and our ecosystem partners to serve the unbanked and underbanked, bringing more secure, transparent, cost-effective and inclusive financial services to individuals and small and micro-sized individual customer and small businesses worldwide. Ant Financial has formed international partnerships with global strategic partners to serve local users in those markets, and we serve Chinese travelers overseas by connecting Alipay with online and offline merchants. Brands under Ant Financial include Alipay, Ant Fortune, Zhima Credit, and MYbank. For more information on Ant Financial, please visit our website at www.antfin.com or follow us on Twitter @AntFinancial.