County in C China's Henan thrives on shiitake mushroom industry, reaches BRI markets

Thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China-Europe freight trains, shiitake mushrooms from Xixia county in Nanyang city, central China's Henan Province have entered overseas markets, including those in BRI participating countries.

Xixia county boasts 40 years of cultivating shiitake mushrooms. Currently, the annual output of shiitake mushrooms in the county has stabilized at about 300,000 tonnes, generating an output value of 26 billion yuan (about $3.6 billion). Over 200,000 people in the county engage in the production, processing and sales of shiitake mushrooms.

Photo shows workers at a shiitake mushroom processing company in Xixia county, central China’s Henan Province. (People’s Daily Online/Huo Yaping)

"Our shiitake mushrooms are in great demand," said Jin Dongliang, president of a mushroom company in Shuanglong township of Xixia county. Jin, who has worked in the shiitake mushroom industry for 36 years, is a witness and a beneficiary of the sector's development in the county. His company has helped 317 previously impoverished people find jobs near home.

Jin has benefited from the BRI. "Thanks to China-Europe freight trains, our shiitake mushroom products, which are mainly exported to countries participating in the BRI, including Vietnam and Russia, can be delivered to their destination within 7-8 days, with shorter transport times and lower logistics costs," said Jin, adding that his company's annual sales volume now reaches 300 million yuan.

"In previous years, sea transportation meant that our products might reach their destinations in 48 days. Each container cost 100,000 yuan, leading to very high export costs," Jin said. According to the entrepreneur, companies now also enjoy streamlined customs clearance procedures, which has reduced costs and ensured product quality.

The BRI has brought benefits to more foreign trade companies in Xixia county. Zhu Feng, general manager of another mushroom company in the county, said his company mainly exports shiitake mushrooms to over 40 countries and regions including Russia, Brazil, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, and its annual exports of shiitake mushroom products exceed 300 million yuan.

By adopting a business model that features cooperation between companies, planting bases, cooperatives and farmers, Xixia county has nurtured over 300 mushroom processing companies and formed an entire mushroom industrial chain, including the cultivation, planting, sales, processing and export of shiitake mushrooms. So far, a 10-billion-yuan industrial cluster of shiitake mushrooms has taken shape in the county.

"We are planning to build the largest shiitake mushroom trading market in our country. We will make efforts to improve the quality of mushroom spawns, raise standards and cultivate leading companies, and help mushroom growers steadily increase their incomes," said Li Songxin, deputy head of Xixia county.

"We need to seize the opportunities of the BRI to build a service platform for foreign trade companies and set standards for shiitake mushrooms and their related products," said Ma Jun, Party chief of Xixia county, adding that the county is striving to turn it into the largest shiitake mushroom export base in China.

By 2025, the total industrial output value of shiitake mushrooms in the county is expected to surpass 30 billion yuan, while the annual transaction volume and export value will exceed 50 billion yuan and $2 billion respectively.

Currently, Xixia county has 198 standardized shiitake mushroom bases, 474 mushroom cooperatives, and over 500 mushroom processing companies. The county exports over 200 types of processed mushroom products in six major categories to more than 30 countries and regions including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Germany and France. The annual transaction volume is nearly 20 billion yuan, contributing over 80 percent to incomes of 60 percent of farmers in the county.