How can rural specialty agricultural products transform into advantageous industries? Reporter visits →

(Source: China Women’s Network)

Reprinted from: China Women’s Network

This year, the No. 1 Central Document proposed supporting the development of green and efficient planting and breeding, advancing deep processing of agricultural products, cultivating boutique agricultural brands, and promoting development of the entire industrial chain.

China is the world’s largest country in the food industry, with an industry scale of about 9.8 trillion yuan; there are more than 450 specialty food production areas, and the industry scale exceeds 2.5 trillion yuan. Many specialty foods originate from specialty agricultural products—coming from vast rural areas. How can rural specialty agricultural products be transformed into advantageous industries? Reporters went to investigate.

Xinjiang Tomato: Supporting a Major Industry

In the production workshop of Xiaochu Food Co., Ltd. in Changji City, Xinjiang, bottles of tomato juice and tomato seasoning sauce are coming off the line and being packed into cartons. In the online live broadcast room, the host is giving detailed product introductions and answering questions, with the number of orders steadily increasing. From tomato chunks, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste to tomato juice and tomato original pulp… various kinds of products all use high-quality tomatoes cultivated locally in Xinjiang as raw materials.

Last year, Zhang Yulin, a grower from Xingfu Village in Erli Gongzhen, Changji City, signed an order contract with Xiaochu Company in advance: “All the tomatoes from more than 900 mu are purchased by the company, so there’s no worry about selling.” Zhang Yulin worked out the numbers: average yield of 10 tons per mu; based on an order price of 0.45 yuan per kilogram, the output value per mu reaches 4,500 yuan. “I can make money. This year I’ll continue to sign orders and plant tomatoes!”

Currently, Xinjiang has developed into an important base for the tomato industry. The main planting areas are distributed in places such as Changji, Shihezi, Kuitun, Shawan, Wusu, Bole, and also county-level areas in the Yanqi Basin.

In 2025, Xinjiang’s processed tomato planting area will reach 520,000 mu, with a yield of 48 million tons. The full-process mechanization level reaches as high as 99%, and both the machine-sowing rate and machine-harvesting rate exceed 98.5%. It has more than 70 processing enterprises. Most of them focus on producing large-barrel tomato paste, and the categories and output of small-packaged tomato products have also increased significantly, forming a full industrial-chain system covering seed breeding, planting, processing, and sales.

At COFCO Tunhe Changji Tomato Products Co., Ltd., whenever the harvesting season arrives, dispatch staff can use the COFCO tomato information and management platform to learn with one click about the total quantity already delivered for handover, the number of transport vehicles, and the number of harvesting machines online—compressing as much as possible the time from harvesting to the production of finished products. The platform can also schedule the most suitable varieties for harvest in the best maturation period according to consumers’ needs for different products. Currently, the company has developed 39 tomato varieties, effectively breaking through bottlenecks in the seed industry. It has also set up a “tomato classroom,” providing precise guidance on technical key points throughout the entire process of cultivating, planting, managing, and harvesting processed tomatoes. Each year, it trains more than 5,000 growers.

“Our fully automated production lines are all running. In 24 hours, we can process more than 8,000 tons of processed tomato raw materials,” said Yu Chunshan, Vice President of the Xinjiang Tomato Industry Association and General Manager of Xinjiang Xiaochu Food Co., Ltd. In 2025, the company’s output of tomato products is 110,000 tons, including 20,000 tons of tomato paste, directly increasing income for more than 120 tomato processing and planting households.

“Because of Xinjiang’s unique natural climate, the sugar content of tomatoes in Xinjiang is higher. After being processed into tomato paste, the lycopene content exceeds 70 milligrams per gram—far above the national standard. That’s why it’s very popular in the market,” Yu Chunshan said. As consumers pay increasing attention to nutrition and health, the unique advantages of Xinjiang tomato products have broadened the sales market, and both export and domestic sales have gone well.

Fuping Sheep Milk: Exploring New Business Models

At daybreak, with a faint light and mist not yet dispersed, in the Yongbei Group of Shuangyang Village, Liuqu Town, Fuping County, Shaanxi, two modern milking stations operate simultaneously. Mechanized milking platforms keep busy without pause. “Every household in the village raises livestock. My family earns more than 200,000 yuan more each year by raising sheep!” said grower Yang Bin.

In Caoguan Village of Liuji Town, within the digital breeding base for high-yield dairy goats in Weinan Agricultural Investment, 1,500 Saanen dairy goats introduced from Australia wear intelligent ear tags while chewing on silage. Through their mobile phones, livestock management staff can view health data in real time. In the past, livestock raising relied on experience; now it is moving toward intelligent, digital management.

Fuping is the county with the largest dairy goat breeding base nationwide. Dairy goats stock stands at 950,000, and annual fresh sheep milk production is 2.61 million tons. It has titles such as “Home of Dairy Goats” and “Capital of Goat Milk.” Shi Guangqiang, Director of the County Animal Husbandry Development Center, introduced that Fuping has identified the dairy goat industry as a pillar industry of the county’s economy. Now many growers rely on the dairy goat industry to build new houses and buy new cars—their lives are getting better and better.

“Goat milk contains rich protein, amino acids, and minerals. It has high nutritional value and is easy to digest and absorb, which is why consumers love it,” said Cui Yifei, Director of the Fuping County Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau. To promote industrial upgrading, the county has built a national modern agricultural industrial park, forming a full industrial-chain system for dairy goats. It supports eight enterprises, including Hongxing Meiling, Jinniu Dairy, and Shengtang Dairy, to build milk-source bases, carry out fine breeding and reproduction of good breeds, expand processing capacity, develop new products, and promote the integrated development of grass and animal husbandry.

In the newly completed production workshop of Shaanxi Yangsangxiang Dairy, the liquid sheep milk production line is running smoothly. “We innovated the process: it can remove the mutton smell while fully preserving active nutritional components. This production line can process 1 million tons of fresh sheep milk per year, and we expect to create 1.25 billion yuan in sales revenue for the whole year,” said Yang Bing, Deputy General Manager of the company.

In Fuping, dairy enterprises actively explore industrial innovation. Some have developed their own production lines for goat cheese and goat whey powder, breaking the dependence of domestically produced infant formula goat whey powder on imported goat whey powder. Others have opened goat milk coffee shops in places such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong, actively exploring new business models… Today, Fuping’s dairy products have maintained a 100% pass rate in spot checks for five consecutive years. 120,000 people have found employment and earned more income through the dairy goat industry. The average annual income increase for growers is 20,000 yuan per household.

Tibet Mountain Spring: “Good Water” from the Plateau

In Chongga Village of Gongtang Township, Damxung County, Lhasa City, Tibet, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, a modern “water factory” is in operation—well-known glacier mineral water is produced and bottled here, then goes to the whole country. As the province with the richest freshwater resources in China, Tibet’s total freshwater volume is nearly 500 billion cubic meters, accounting for 16.5% of the national total, with the highest per-capita water resources endowment in the country.

Relying on this natural endowment, Tibet has strongly promoted the development of the “Tibet Good Water” industry, issuing multiple policy documents such as opinions on accelerating the development of natural drinking water industries. It also supports industrial transformation and upgrading, lowering costs and increasing efficiency, improving quality and expanding capacity, and strengthening and extending the supply chain—through digital and intelligent transformation, bringing in supporting enterprises, and subsidizing products to go out of Tibet.

In recent years, Tibet’s output of natural drinking water has grown by more than 20% year on year on average. More than 60 production lines have been built, with designed capacity exceeding 5 million tons. 56 natural drinking water production enterprises have obtained food production licenses.

In Nyingchi, a “water factory” covering 126 mu has been completed and put into operation. Plateau water from the water source area of the Nyainqêntanglha Mountain is processed through water treatment, bottling, and labeling to become bottled water. This factory opened by Nongfu Spring plans multiple production lines covering categories such as natural drinking water, juice beverages, and tea beverages, with an annual output of 5.9 million tons. “Here we have high-quality natural water sources, which can provide a solid quality guarantee for Nongfu Spring products,” said the person in charge of the enterprise.

To ensure that the water source areas are not polluted, the local authorities have designated protected areas and standardized production processes. Enterprises strictly arrange production output according to demand. “Only by caring more carefully for the water source can we ensure ‘a steady flow of clear water’.” Wang Hua, General Manager of 5100 Mineral Water, said this.

As the water industry grows stronger, the benefits to enriching people are becoming increasingly evident. Tseren Wangjue is a local villager from Chongga Village. He now works at a local drinking water enterprise. At first, he knew nothing about how to operate various advanced equipment. With support from the enterprise, he made multiple trips to learn in other places, gradually mastered the various technologies, became a skilled operator, and grew from an ordinary factory worker into a production manager.

It is reported that this mineral water production enterprise helps achieve nearly 100,000 yuan in annual income per household by recruiting 95% of local villagers for employment.

Today, the pure “Tibet Good Water” has become a calling card of local specialty food industries in Tibet. A number of Tibetan water brands, including 5100, Gesang Spring, Zhuoma Spring, Dazhao Holy Spring, and Gongrenbopo Spring, have earned consumer recognition for their high quality. Currently, Tibetan natural drinking water enterprises not only directly and indirectly create jobs, but also benefit surrounding residents through industrial poverty alleviation or profit sharing. In the future, the local area will continue to dig deeper into the industry’s potential, making natural drinking water one of the important industries for enriching people and strengthening the region.

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