Guangxi promotes development of local food industry

A conference on promoting the quality and safety of distinctive local delicacies in Guangxi is held in Nanning on June 17. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A conference on promoting the quality and safety of distinctive local delicacies in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region was held in Nanning on June 17, with the aim of boosting the growth of Guangxi's food industry to a higher level.

The region is now home to 863 companies above designated size, with an overall output value of 240 billion yuan ($37 billion). An industrial enterprise above designated size refers to one that has an annual operation revenue surpassing 20 million yuan.

Guangxi has devoted continuous efforts to supporting, cultivating and supervising the development of its local food industry in recent years. Indeed, the food industry in Guangxi maintained stable and sound development over the 13th Five Year Plan period (2016-20), with its industrial added value growing by more than 10 percent annually. 

It has now cultivated a batch of famous local delicacies such as Liuzhou river snail rice, Wuzhou Liubao tea, and Hengxian Jasmine tea. 

The sales revenue of Liuzhou river snail rice reached 11 billion yuan in 2020. The figure for its supporting or derivative products exceeded 13 billion yuan. Hengxian county has also paved the way to prosperity by developing its jasmine industry. It gained a total output value of 12.5 billion yuan in 2020. 

The region now has 154 kinds of agricultural products with geographical indicators, 82 kinds of food products with the protection of geographical indication products, and 56 food products with geographical indication marks.

The construction of an inspection, testing and certification system for local food products has been further promoted. A total of 251 companies in the region now own 410 organic product certificates, and 181 products have entered markets in Europe and the United States. 

In addition, during the 13th Five Year Plan period, Guangxi issued 27 local regulations for ensuring the security of local delicacies such as river snail rice and Liubao tea.