More than 100 firms from 46 nations and regions worldwide gathered Friday in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province, for the opening session of the Fifth International Potato Conference.

This is the first time for an Asian country to host the World Potato Conference. The conference, headquartered in Canada, has been held in Canada, Britain, South Africa and Netherlands.

The current session has set up displays in the main exhibition center at the Kunming International Trade Center to show a variety of processed potato products.

It opened a sub-meeting place as well as an experimental park for new potato varieties and three parks for fine potato strains in Qujing city of Yunnan province. Five symposiums on potato development will be held during the conference.

China is expected to sign agreements with the Netherlands and some ASEAN nations on technical and trade cooperation for potato production and transaction.

Lloyd Palme, an official in charge of the current session, said potato ranks as the fourth principal staple food in the world after wheat, maize and rice. It is valued worldwide for its high yield, strong adaptability and rich nutrients. The potato industry has a bright prospect in global agricultural development.

Zhang Baowen, Chinese vice-minister of agriculture, said that China hopes to enhance cooperation with other countries in potato production, processing and sales by hosting the conference.

Developed countries turn over 70 percent of potato output into processed food products, he acknowledged. Though China is the biggest potato grower in the world with an annual output of 66 million tons, less than a quarter of annual potato output in the country is processed into products for daily consumption.

China will beef up its efforts for potato processing research, open new markets and increase its competitiveness in the world with the superiority in high yield and low production cost, Zhang said.