Sanya International Incense Conference Set for Nov 13-16; Editorial Board Launched for World Agarwood Industry Blue Book

Conference lands in Sanya with a day-and-night exhibition format

According to Hainan-based media, the press conference for the "Tianya Hongxiu - 2026 Sanya International Incense Competition" was held in Haikou on Oct 15, hosted by the Hainan Agarwood Industry Federation and the Hainan Yazhou Culture Research Association. Organisers announced the event will run Nov 13-16 at the Sanya International Yacht Exhibition Centre. The conference adopts an innovative day-and-night format: professional buyers from home and abroad are received during the day, while high-end tourists are admitted in the evening. It combines an international incense competition, a premium raw-material exhibition, a high-level industry forum, incense-culture performances and trade matchmaking. After the event, award-winning pieces will enter Sanya's permanent "never-ending incense exhibition" for long-term display and sale, and exhibitors may apply for extensions with dedicated support policies.

Blue Book editorial board formed, with secretariats in several countries

The other major disclosure was the official establishment of the editorial board of the World Agarwood Industry Development Blue Book, which will set up secretariats in the Middle East, India, Indonesia, Japan and China's Hainan to begin full data collection. The Middle East is one of the world's core agarwood consumption markets; Indonesia and India are linked to producing-region supply and entrepot trade; and Japan has a complete incense-ceremony (kodo) system. The layout signals a shift in industry research from a single-producing-region perspective to a global value-chain perspective. Combined with the Hainan Free Trade Port's visa-free access for 88 countries, zero-tariff imports of aromatic materials, and the inclusion of agarwood and huanghuali in Hainan's "Six Trees" special agroforestry programme, Hainan is trying to convert its historical reputation into quantifiable industrial influence.

Observation: from high-end collecting to mass cultural consumption

Organisers said the conference will pursue deep collaboration around immersive incense-culture scenes, rest-and-sleep products, cultural IP communication and cultural-tourism formats, helping agarwood culture move out of a niche collecting circle and into mainstream leisure life. For the industry, whether the promise of strict quality control and authentic goods at fair prices can be delivered depends on whether testing and traceability capacity keeps pace - a shared challenge for producing regions pursuing standardisation in recent years.

This article is an industry observation and popular-science compilation; it does not constitute any trading or investment advice. Please purchase agarwood through legal channels and look for traceable, testable sources.