China Daily:

Heilongjiang is located between 43 degrees and 53 degrees north latitude, in the "Golden Belt" for corn and livestock. We have noticed that Heilongjiang has created distinctive brands in recent years, such as Black Soil Premium Products and Forest Delicacies and Specialties . What has been the result? What is the next step in leveraging the natural endowments to further promote the high-quality development of the processing of agricultural products? Thank you.

Liang Huiling:

Thank you for your interest in this work. I would like to invite Mr. Xu to answer these questions.

Xu Xiangguo:

Thank you for your questions. The two brands of Black Soil Premium Products and Forest Delicacies and Specialties are not only representatives of Heilongjiang's regional agricultural products, but also a green label for agricultural products in the province. Currently, a total of 221 offline stores in 63 cities across the country sell those two brands, with online and offline sales reaching 7.3 billion yuan since 2023. With the rising popularity of Harbin last year, local specialties such as chicken stewed with mushrooms, iron pot stewed goose, wild blueberries, black fungus, hazelnuts, lion's mane mushrooms (Hericium erinaceus) and cranberries, have also attracted the attention of people across the country.

In terms of further promoting the high-quality development of the agricultural product processing industry, we are mainly focused on the principle of "grain planting to the forefront and produce to follow (This means that grain planting should be the source, and produce should be found on the dining table, which requires us to properly deal with the relationship between planting and marketing)" and "agriculture to the forefront and industry to follow (This requires us to integrate the primary and secondary industries and realize intensive processing of agricultural products)", solidly advancing the three-year action plan for the high-quality development of the agricultural product processing industry. Our work is focused on four main aspects:

First, we will genuinely cultivate business entities. We will give full play to the demonstration and leading role of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) such as Beidahuang Agricultural Reclamation Group and leading enterprises in the province such as Feihe Dairy , and build larger and stronger demonstration parks as platform carriers. At the same time, we will expedite the cultivation of a group of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) featuring fast development speed, strong innovation ability, high-quality products and good economic returns, so as to form a development pattern in which large enterprises serve as the backbone of the industry and numerous SMEs are spread across the province.

Second, we will carefully extend the processing chain. As Ms. Liang explained about the protection of black soil, Heilongjiang's certified planting area of green organic food is 94.59 million mu. This is our greatest confidence in developing green agriculture. We will focus on the standardized production of raw materials on one hand and green food processing on the other, and transform and upgrade the traditional processing industry through technological improvements. At the same time, we must strengthen the empowerment of technological innovation to develop and expand our emerging processing industries, develop high-end and refined products with strong market competitiveness, further extend the industrial chain, strengthen the supply chain, and enhance the value chain.

Third, we will closely focus on food quality and safety. We will strictly adhere to the bottom line of product quality, establish a standardized, institutionalized and regular mechanism, and implement quality supervision throughout the entire chain, link and life cycle, so that the quality and safety of agricultural products can be traced throughout the entire process, and the approval rate of provincial agricultural product quality and safety routine monitoring can be stabilized at above 98%. We will truly ensure food safety for consumers "from field to tongue" and "from farm to table."

Fourth, we will wholeheartedly build high-quality brands. This year, whether we are carrying out brand promotional events in first-tier cities, brand culture empowerment campaigns, building themed restaurants, upgrading premium supermarkets, or assisting farmers with livestreaming platforms, we will serve the best dishes and the best products, so that more people can enjoy delicious, fresh, safe and healthy food. Thank you.