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E-mail China.org.cn, June 24, 2024
National Business Daily:
When talking about Ningxia, people often think of local specialties like wine and goji berries. Could you introduce the development of Ningxia's competitive agricultural industries that draw on local strengths? Thank you.
Zhang Yupu:
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to introduce the development of Ningxia's agricultural industries. "The Yellow River enriches Ningxia" primarily through agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery, earning Ningxia the reputation of being a "Saishang Jiangnan" (the place to the north of the Great Wall, which is as beautiful as south of Yangtze River) and a "land of fish and rice."
In recent years, we have leveraged Ningxia's unique resource advantages by maximizing strengths, mitigating weaknesses, and turning weaknesses into strengths to accelerate the development of Ningxia's specialty agricultural industries. We have identified six key industries: wine, goji berries, milk, beef, Tan sheep, and vegetables. Due to time constraints, I will focus on three of them today.
First, leveraging the golden climate zone, we have vigorously developed the wine industry. Ningxia is recognized both domestically and internationally as a prime wine-producing region. The industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. In terms of volume, Ningxia's wine production from chateaus has now risen to the top position in the country. To put it figuratively, one of every two bottles of domestically produced chateau wine comes from Ningxia. Currently, our products are sold in more than 40 countries and regions and have won over 1,000 international awards. These days, the TV series "Hometown of Stars," broadcast during prime time on CCTV-1, tells the story of the development of Ningxia's wine industry. Notably, a recently released China-France joint statement mentioned promoting China's accession to the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV). Ningxia will seize this opportunity and rise to the challenges, accelerating the development of its wine industry and striving to contribute to bringing Chinese wine to the world.
Second, relying on the golden planting belt, we have vigorously developed the goji berry industry. Ningxia is the origin of goji berries in the world, and Ningxia goji berries are the only ones recognized by the state as having both medicinal and edible properties. As the saying goes: "China's goji berries are peerless in the world, and Ningxia's goji berries are the best in China." We have made significant breakthroughs in quality improvement and deep processing in recent years. We established the China Goji Berry Research Institute and the National Goji Berry Product Quality Testing and Inspection Center to ensure product quality. Ningxia has led the formulation of over 50% of the national standards for goji berry products, and developed more than 120 new products in the categories of medicines, foods, beverages, health products, and cosmetics. Currently, 1 kilogram out of every 8 kilograms of goji berries in China comes from Ningxia, making it the country's largest goji berry distribution center.
Third, relying on the golden milk source belt, we have vigorously developed the milk industry. Ningxia is a national high-end dairy cattle breeding center and dairy product production hub. The milk produced in Ningxia boasts high output and excellent quality, with several indicators exceeding EU standards. The average milk yield per cow in Ningxia is 300 kilograms higher than the national average. Recently, market changes have impacted the dairy industry and dairy product companies. To ensure industrial security and sound development, we have implemented policies and measures to guarantee steady and sustainable growth. Currently, Ningxia has over 900,000 dairy cows, maintaining the highest growth rate in the country for five consecutive years. Fresh milk production accounts for about 10% of the national market. Besides increasing production capacity, we focus on technological innovation and have built the world's first fully smart dairy factory to achieve the goal of employing only 100 workers to produce 1 million tons of liquid milk annually and create an output value of 10 billion yuan.
Next, we will further expand and strengthen our advantageous specialty industries, allowing consumers to enjoy more and better "Ningxia-branded" products.
That's all for my response. Thank you!
