At the invitation of the Business School of Yangzhou University, professor Yu XiaoHua from the development and transformation department of the University of Gosteen in Germany, the director of the Department of Agricultural Economy and Rural Development, and the distinguished researcher in Nanking University, made an academic report entitled "Expansion and Research Parapeits of Agricultural Economics Research Objects in Digital Age" on October 18, 2023. Jiang Naihua, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of Yangzhou University, attended the seminar. Professor Huang Chunyan, the vice dean of the Business School, presided over the seminar. A total of more than 60 teachers and students from the Department of Agricultural Economics of the Business School participated in the seminar.

Professor Yu Xiaohua first pointed out that in the digital age, data have become an important "production factors" and "assets", while artificial intelligence is not only a technological breakthrough, but also has a revolutionary impact on agricultural economics. Secondly, in the face of new problems in the new digital age, the theoretical innovation and empirical methods of agricultural economics should be used to innovate the theoretical innovation and empirical methods of agricultural economics to replace the outmoded research methods and theories. Professor Yu Xiaohua highlighted the similarities and differences between machine learning and traditional econometrics,underlining the importance of machine learning in the digital age. At the end of the report, Professor Yu Xiaohua answered questions raised by attendees. This seminar opened up the students horizons and inspired more  scientific research ideas for teachers. Both teachers and students benefited a lot.