Sanya International Incense Conference Opens in November as World Agarwood Industry Blue Book Committee Forms

What happened

According to Sanya Media, a press conference held in Haikou on 15 October 2026 announced that the 2026 Sanya International Incense Conference will open at the Sanya International Yacht Exhibition Centre from 13 to 16 November. Built around three signature Hainan aromatic woods - agarwood, Huanghuali rosewood and Jiangzhenxiang - the event combines international competition, curated exhibition, high-level forum, cultural performance and industry matchmaking. It also adopts a day-and-night format, serving professional buyers by day and premium visitors by night.

The Blue Book: a shared language for a global trade

At the event, the head of the overseas preparatory body announced the establishment of the editorial committee for the World Agarwood Industry Development Blue Book, with secretariats to be set up in Hainan as well as the Middle East, India, Indonesia and Japan to begin collecting material. The significance is clear: the agarwood trade has long lacked cross-region, cross-border data and evaluation standards, with producing areas, grading systems and testing methods each following their own conventions. A widely accepted framework would reduce information asymmetry and clarify the relationship between price and quality.

From collectors to everyday consumers

Cross-sector agreements were also signed, with the Hainan Health Management Association, tourism hotel association, Yazhou culture research society and Sanya travel agencies joining forces to link agarwood with wellness, hospitality, cultural tourism and international trade. Backed by Hainan Free Trade Port policies such as visa-free access and zero-tariff imports of aromatic materials, incense culture is moving from a niche collecting circle into wellness retreats and cultural tourism souvenirs. As the consumer base widens, the bottom line must hold: buyers should insist on legal, traceable sources and third-party test reports, and stay alert to oil-soaked, glue-injected and dyed imitations.

(This is industry observation and popular-science summary, not investment advice. Buy agarwood through legal channels with traceable, testable sources.)