Against a backdrop of growing global pressure on food systems driven by climate change and shifting ecological conditions, agricultural scientists from China and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) gathered in late March 2026 to reaffirm the critical role of international collaboration in advancing wheat innovation and sustainable farming. The high-level China-CIMMYT wheat symposium took place as a flagship event during CIMMYT’s annual Visitors’ Week at the Norman E. Borlaug Experimental Station in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, drawing dozens of leading researchers to map the future of global wheat breeding.