Chengxian County, Gansu: Gathering "new" power in the medicinal and fragrant chain

In early winter, at the traditional Chinese medicinal material planting base in Suyuan Town, Cheng County, Longnan City, Gansu Province, medicinal farmers bent over shaking soil, sorting, and bundling. Tricycles lined up on the edge of the fields, waiting for shipment. In the yard of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Distribution Center in Xiaochuan Town, trucks and tricycles were coming in and out, sacks were being weighed, and carts of Chinese medicinal materials were waiting to be traded. In the agricultural factory in Xinyuan, Gansu, the water in the cleaning pool is surging, the extraction equipment is running quietly, and baskets of Chinese medicinal materials are cleaned, extracted, and packaged into portable health teas and ready-to-eat medicinal dietary products.

Behind these scenes is Chengxian County’s united front work focusing on high-quality economic development and rural revitalization to deeply cultivate new social classes. In recent years, Chengxian County has continued to build strong organizations, build platforms, and gather talents to guide new classes of people to take root in the countryside and participate in rural industrial development through industrial innovation, linking farmers with farmers, and brand empowerment, and has embarked on a path of "gathering new forces, developing industries, and enriching the people."

"In the early years, most local medicinal materials were sold directly as raw materials, with thin profits and farmers taking risks," said Tan Zhongfeng, general manager of Gansu Xinyuan Agriculture. Relying on the support and guidance of the United Front Platform, he plunged into the same industry of medicine and food, built a standardized deep-processing production line, and developed more than 50 specialty products, breaking the old path of "exporting raw materials" of Chinese herbal medicines. The company innovates the "e-commerce + company + cooperative + base + farmers" model and develops nearly 60,000 acres of planting bases in Chengxian County and surrounding areas. It embeds farmers in the industrial chain through order acquisition, land shares, working nearby, and year-end dividends.

“You don’t have to leave your hometown, you can grow medicine at home, work in a factory, and you will receive dividends at the end of the year.” Many farmers who have followed the development of Xinyuan Agriculture have truly tasted the sweetness of industrial development. Over the years, the company has distributed more than 18 million yuan in dividends to farmers, provided more than 6,700 jobs, trained more than 800 farmer technicians, and tens of thousands of people have steadily increased their incomes with the Chinese herbal medicine industry.

In addition to the traditional Chinese medicinal materials industry chain, the industrial practices of the new class of people in Chengxian County are extending to more agricultural and specialty products. Zhao Wuqiang, the person in charge of "Longxiaonan", is deeply engaged in walnut deep processing and e-commerce live broadcasting, making Chengxian walnuts out of the national circle; the "Tonggu Jiayu" team is deeply involved in the integration of agriculture, culture and tourism, creating local agricultural specialty product brands and solving agricultural product sales problems. A group of new class people keep track of each other and empower each other, forming a multi-point industrial pattern.

"The new class of people are active in thinking and close to the market, and are a new force in rural revitalization. By strengthening ideological guidance and optimizing service guarantees, we guide e-commerce entrepreneurs, private entrepreneurs, and new business practitioners to take root in the countryside and transform resource advantages into industrial advantages." said Qiang Wanxiang, executive deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Chengxian County Party Committee.

From e-commerce empowering the walnut industry, to scientific innovation upgrading the Chinese herbal medicine industry, to brands revitalizing agricultural resources across the region, the vigorous development of Chengxian's new class of enterprises vividly illustrates the responsibilities and responsibilities of Chengxian's new class of people. Chengxian County will continue to gather this "new force" and guide everyone to continue to work in areas such as improving the quality and efficiency of characteristic industries, integrating agriculture, culture, and tourism, and supporting consumption, and contribute to the high-quality development of the county.