Organic agriculture industry attracting investment

As the only demonstration base for green and organic agricultural products in China, Jiangxi province has attracted a group of large enterprises to invest in the region, according to local officials.

The province has rich natural resources, picturesque natural scenery and geographic advantages, said Hu Hanping, head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Jiangxi province, at an industrial forum.

At the 2019 Jiangxi-Shenzhen Modern Agricultural Cooperation and Development Forum, held recently in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, 22 key projects were signed with a total investment of 11.21 billion yuan ($1.63 billion).

The forum focused on various agricultural sectors including vegetables and fruits, plantations of traditional Chinese medicines, pastoral complexes, deep processing of agricultural products and both recreational and high-tech agriculture.

Each of the three large-scale projects signed during the event was worth more than 1 billion yuan. Of them, the project of processing genetic freshwater products funded by Shenzhen BGI Marine Sci &Tech was the largest, with the contract value amounting to 3 billion yuan.

The signing of the new agricultural projects is sure to contribute to the high-quality development of the province's agriculture, local officials said.

"In the future, Jiangxi will strengthen all-round cooperation with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in fields such as demonstration parks for modern agriculture, agricultural science and technology innovation, construction of beautiful villages and cold chain logistics," Hu said.

The province will work to cultivate leading enterprises in agriculture with a complete industrial chain and strong competitiveness. It aims to promote integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas as well as the combination of logistics, processing, agricultural product production and services, he noted.

Jiangxi will optimize its agricultural structure, center on food production and build pillar agricultural sectors, including rice, vegetables and fruits, animal husbandry, aquaculture and rural tourism, with the total output value of each exceeding 100 billion yuan, Hu added.

"The province also intends to implement an Internet Plus modern agricultural plan and improve agricultural production by advancing state-of-the-art technologies such as big data, cloud computing and the internet of things."