The Farmer Ambassador’s Green Dream-Very Nijs, Very Nice

Patrick Nijs, 75-year-old former Belgian Ambassador to China, gave a lecture to over 40 international officials attending the "2025 World Internet Conference Global Elite Training" on the morning of November 8, at the 2025 WIC Wuzhen Summit. During his lecture, Nijs spoke about his green ecological dream. What kind of dream is it? Let's go and see.

Nies was influenced by the Dao De Jing and devoted himself to the study of Oriental culture. He has been engaged in diplomacy and ecological work in China for a long time. A year ago, he delivered a speech at the 2024 WIC Wuzhen Summit. This year, he and his wife Deng Minyan returned to this summit.

In 2013, after stepping down as the Ambassador to China, Nijs chose to stay in China. The couple rented 30 acres of dry land at an altitude of 2,200 meters in Dongchuan, Kunming, Yunnan province. Without pesticides or fertilizers, they built the Kabissa Organic Farm. He took a collapsing old village near the Kabissa. He planned to establish an international permaculture demonstration zone under the framework of China's rural revitalization.

In 2022, at the invitation of the Deqing county in Zhejiang province, Nijs went to Moganshan and teamed with like-minded Chinese partners to launch the "Moganshan Green Engine" project, aiming to promote China-Europe cooperation, introduce the talents, technology and investment needed for China’s high-quality development in the ecological field, and promote green development and ecological civilization construction. One of its core objectives is to organize an annual "Wutong-Acacia International Exchange" focused on ecological topics in order to build a platform for exchanges and cooperation in the ecological field between China and the world.

2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" being proposed. Green development is a topic of global concern. Nijs hopes to promote the sustainable development concept of the Kabissa Organic Farm through personal practice and realize a larger ecological vision in Anji, Huzhou.

Supervisor: Qin Jun

Producer: Lang Yufeng

Director: Sun Xiaona

Reporters: Sun Xiaona, Lang Yufeng, Xu Zhitian, Yao Zhujing, Wei Andong, Shao Wenyun

Post-production editor: Ni Jiayi

Video special effects: Yao Zhujing

Translation coordinators: Yan Yiqi, Yuan Yiqing

Shooting assistants: Wang Na, Si Guantao, Zhu Zimo