New Hope’s Liu Yonghao: Raising Pigs Means Feeding Them Feed; Raising AI Means Feeding It Data! How Can Traditional Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Embrace Artificial Intelligence?

10 month 28, the 2026 (Seventh) Future Conference, hosted by the Sichuan Chamber of Commerce, was held in Chengdu. Liu Yonghao, chairman of New Hope (000876) Group, delivered a keynote speech on the digitalization of traditional industries, the application of robots, and artificial intelligence (885728).

 

Liu Yonghao said that he started out raising quail and chickens (885808), later moving into feed and pig farming, and has been in business for more than 40 years.

 

 

“Traditional industries are not a burden; they are the foundation. Once the foundation is solid, it can support new things.” He said that restaurant kitchens face difficulties hiring staff, and that tasks such as chopping vegetables, washing vegetables, and plating are relatively demanding. More than three years ago, New Hope (000876) Group established a robotics company to explore combining food processing scenarios with artificial intelligence (885728) and robotics technology.

 

In his view, robots can take on some repetitive and heavy work, allowing employees to move into other positions.

 

Speaking about artificial intelligence (885728), Liu Yonghao believes that artificial intelligence (885728) is becoming like water and electricity. No one can avoid this wave: “The sooner you learn about artificial intelligence (885728), the sooner you embrace it and put it to use.”

 

He said that New Hope (000876) Group had also invested in artificial intelligence (885728) data companies, adding sensors (885946) and cameras to pig farms and chicken farms, and using big data and artificial intelligence (885728) for production management. “You can tell how much a pig weighs with a quick scan from a camera. In the past, one farm worker looked after dozens of pigs; now one person can look after hundreds, even thousands,” he said.

 

He used the relationship between feed and pigs to explain the relationship between data and AI: “I don’t understand algorithms, but I understand one principle: AI, like pigs, needs to be fed. Pigs are fed feed; AI is fed data. It’s really the same thing.”

 

He believes that data quality affects AI capabilities: “Whoever does a good job with data will have stronger AI.”

 

In his speech, Liu Yonghao also emphasized: Don’t be anxious, don’t give up, and don’t shy away from difficulties.

 

These remarks came against a special backdrop: the performance of the animal husbandry business under New Hope (000876) Group has been weak. In 2025, New Hope (000876) (000876), a listed company under the group, recorded operating revenue of approximately 1068.56 hundred million yuan and a net loss attributable to shareholders of the parent company of approximately 17.84 hundred million yuan. In the first half of 2026, it recorded operating revenue of approximately 555.89 hundred million yuan, up 7.68% year on year, and a net loss attributable to shareholders of the parent company of approximately 17.02 hundred million yuan. The listed company said that in the first half of the year, the year-on-year decline in live hog prices was greater than the decline in farming costs, resulting in a year-on-year decrease in profits from hog farming (884275).

 

Liu Yonghao said that an industry downturn is a window of opportunity to hone capabilities and widen the gap. Companies should pursue a science-based transformation, remain confident and seek development, while avoiding the pitfalls of “refusing to transform and waiting to die” and “transforming blindly and chaotically and courting death.” Confidence is especially important.

 

At the end of his speech, he emphasized: “The road is traveled one step at a time, and a business is built one thing at a time. The future is not something you wait for; it is something you work to create.”