Establish a greater food approach, develop protected agriculture, and build a diversified food supply system. Develop distinctive rural industries and expand channels for farmers to increase their income and become prosperous. Consolidate and expand the achievements in poverty alleviation, and strengthen the endogenous development momentum of areas and people lifted out of poverty.
— Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China
Industrial development is the fundamental solution for achieving comprehensive rural revitalization. In recent years, relevant national departments and local governments have introduced a series of policies and measures to promote rural revitalization and develop specialty industries with distinctive advantages. They have continued to strengthen fiscal, financial, technological, and other factor guarantees, created a favorable environment for the development of specialty industries, promoted assisted industries from small to large and from weak to strong, significantly improved quality and efficiency, continuously expanded industrial scale, initially formed a trend of clustered development, and achieved initial results in brand cultivation.
Under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and other departments, China launched the Rural Revitalization Specialty Industry Cultivation Project. Nine specialty industries with distinctive advantages, including oil-tea camellia, walnut, olive, hybrid paper mulberry, wine grape, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau highland barley, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau yak, southern Xinjiang walnut, and southern Xinjiang red date, were selected for key cultivation, achieving phased results.
At present, China has 180 million mu of woody oilseed forests mainly composed of oil-tea camellia, olive, and walnut, with an annual oilseed output of 9.68 million tonnes. In 2024, China newly planted and improved 7.125 million mu of low-yield oil-tea camellia forests, with camellia oil production exceeding 1 million tonnes. The olive planting area increased by 143,000 mu, with olive oil production exceeding 12,000 tonnes. The walnut planting area remained stable at 126 million mu, with a total output of 5.866 million tonnes.
Breakthrough Progress Made in the Oil-Tea Camellia Industry
In 2024, China issued policies supporting the development of specialty industries, such as the Opinions on Practicing the Greater Food Approach and Building a Diversified Food Supply System. For three consecutive years, the central government has implemented fiscal incentive and subsidy demonstration projects for the development of the oil-tea camellia industry, covering 20 prefecture-level cities.
In 2024, based on the 72.1961 million mu of oil-tea camellia planting area in 2023, China newly planted and improved 7.125 million mu of low-yield forests, and camellia oil production exceeded 1 million tonnes. Through deep cooperation among industry, universities, and research institutes, 21 new superior oil-tea camellia varieties were newly reviewed and approved nationwide, and 30 new oil-tea camellia varieties were authorized. Key regions such as Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, and Hubei achieved outstanding results in base construction, deep processing, brand building, and industrial integration.
Oil-Tea Camellia Base Photo by Deng Fucai
Key enterprises such as Hunan Dashanxiang, Jiangxi Xinghuo Agriculture and Forestry, and Guangxi Sanmenjiang have continuously innovated development models and products, playing a leading role in all links of the industrial chain. Among them, Yichun Dahaigui Life Science Co., Ltd. focuses on the extraction and comprehensive utilization of active plant substances such as oil-tea camellia. Its oil-tea camellia extract products include plant squalene, natural vitamin E, and phytosterols. Its relevant product capacity ranks first nationwide, and its related scientific research achievements won the First Prize of the Jiangxi Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award.
Coordinated Development Across the Entire Walnut Industry Chain
In 2024, China’s walnut planting area remained stable at 126 million mu, with a total output of 5.866 million tonnes, slightly lower than the previous year. A pattern of coordinated development across the entire industry chain has gradually taken shape. More than 23,000 storage and processing enterprises produce diversified products such as dried walnuts, walnut kernels and kernel products, walnut oil, walnut protein powder, and walnut milk. Among them, there are more than 2,000 enterprises producing walnut kernels and kernel products, over 5,000 walnut oil processing enterprises with an output of about 80,000 tonnes, and about 1,000 walnut protein enterprises.
Fresh Walnuts Being Dried Photo by Liu Qinli
At present, the comprehensive output value of the walnut industry has exceeded 160 billion yuan, covering more than 50 million rural residents in China. In some counties and cities in Yunnan and Xinjiang, walnut income accounts for more than 40% of farmers’ per capita income. Enterprises using new technologies and processes to produce new products, with annual walnut oil output exceeding 10,000 tonnes, have been completed and put into operation in Yunnan and Xinjiang.
New Development in the Olive Industry
In 2024, China’s olive planting area reached 2.1755 million mu, with fresh fruit output of 108,000 tonnes and olive oil production exceeding 12,000 tonnes, all showing significant growth over the previous year. The market share of domestically produced olive oil increased from less than 10% to 18%, changing the previous situation in which 90% of supply depended on imports. Import dependence has gradually declined, and China is gradually becoming an emerging olive oil producer.
Relying on their natural advantages, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, and Hubei have carried out large-scale planting and industrialized development, promoted the integrated development of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and become olive-producing areas with output, brands, and markets. They have 53 processing enterprises and 67 production lines, and their extra virgin olive oil products have won 135 awards in international olive oil competitions.
Great Development Potential in the Hybrid Paper Mulberry Industry
The hybrid paper mulberry industry has initially established an integrated and traceable closed-loop industrial chain from field to table. In 2024, statistics from 30 sample enterprises showed that the newly added planting area reached 38,000 mu, feed production reached 144,000 tonnes, 106,000 head of livestock and 409,000 poultry were raised, and output value reached 880 million yuan, with clear benefits in linking and supporting farmers. Meanwhile, significant breakthroughs were made in the breeding of cold-resistant and saline-alkali-tolerant varieties and the optimization of feed-use technologies. Certain progress was also achieved in planting promotion, industrial integration, and farmer linkage, showing a sound development trend.
The Wine Industry Needs to Accelerate Transformation and Upgrading
In 2024, under the dual pressure of macroeconomic downturn and changing consumer preferences, the number of abnormal-status wine-related enterprises increased by 76 compared with 2023. The wine industry needs to build its foundation on quality, strengthen its soul through culture, seek breakthroughs through innovation, and accelerate transformation and upgrading.
At present, China’s wine grape planting area remains stable at around 1.275 million mu, while wine output continues to decline. In 2024, domestic wine output totaled 103,000 kiloliters, down 14.2% year on year. Product quality steadily improved and the product structure was further optimized, but the comprehensive utilization of related by-products remained insufficient.
Southern Xinjiang’s Walnut Industry Plays an Important Role
In 2024, Xinjiang’s total walnut planting area reached 6.4 million mu, with output of about 1.445 million tonnes, accounting for around 22% of the national total, and total output value exceeded 17 billion yuan, all showing significant growth over the previous year. Among them, the three major producing areas in southern Xinjiang—Aksu, Kashgar, and Hotan—had a planting area of about 6.29 million mu and output of about 1.394 million tonnes, contributing approximately 96.5% of Xinjiang’s total output. Management levels improved significantly. Through density-reduction renovation projects in Kashgar Prefecture, the proportion of densely planted orchards decreased by 12%, and average yield per mu increased to 210 kilograms.
In 2024, southern Xinjiang’s walnut export value reached 1.5 billion yuan, up 16% from 2023 and 107% from 2022, maintaining its position as the national leader in exports. At present, more than 8 million people in southern Xinjiang rely mainly on walnut production and planting as their source of income. In areas such as Wensu and Yecheng, walnut income accounts for more than 40% of farmers’ net income.
Southern Xinjiang’s Red Date Industry Remains Significant
Under the combined impact of oversupply, declining quality, and economic downturn, prices of southern Xinjiang red dates fell sharply. In 2024, the total area of southern Xinjiang red dates was 3.881 million mu, with total output of 3.088 million tonnes, both lower than in 2023, but still accounting for 45% of the national total output.
With its ecological resilience, strategic value as a woody grain crop, health benefits as both food and medicine, and ecological characteristic of not competing with grain and cotton for land, southern Xinjiang red dates have become a strategic fulcrum for solving the farmland-food-ecology challenge.
(Excerpted and edited from the Rural Revitalization Specialty Industry Cultivation Project Series 2024)
Source: China Green Times