Hechi develops drinking water, big health industries

Bama Bainiao Cave. [Photo/Meng Ping]

At the Bama Big Health and Drinking Water Industries Development Forum held on Sept 9, Hechi officials stated that the city would industriously develop clean drinking water and big health industries, as well as use the ecological sector to enrich the local communities.

In recent years, relying on the construction of the green development pilot zone, Hechi has made efforts to develop the drinking water industry and cultivate brands. Several well-known drinking water enterprises have emerged in Bama, Donglan, Huanjiang, Luocheng, and other places, and their products are sold at home and abroad.

In 2021, the total output value of Hechi's water and related industries reached 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), becoming an important pillar industry for driving the city's high-quality economic development.

Bama Yao autonomous county is the "hometown of longevity in the world". Thirty-nine high-quality pure natural drinking water sources can be mined in the county, and the annual storage capacity can reach 50 million metric tons. This year, Bama has 19 companies engaged in the production of packaged drinking water products, including seven drinking water companies above the designated size. From January to July, the output value of the drinking water industry in the county reached 319 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.5 percent.

"Besides water resources, Hechi has rich Chinese herbal medicine resources. There are more than 1,530 kinds of native Chinese herbal medicines," Xie Junli, director of the Hechi municipal health bureau, introduced.

Hechi will rely on rich traditional Chinese medicine resources to build a traditional Chinese herbal medicine garden complex, support local Chinese herbal medicine processing companies to build a pharmaceutical industry cluster, introduce powerful pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical and scientific research institutions, as well as rely on tourism resources to create elderly care and health care leisure and tourism areas. It strives to create a whole traditional Chinese medicine healthcare chain and develop a high-quality big health industry.