Intact nature nutures Huaihua
City has clean air, water and an abundance of fruit
The unique ecological environment of Huaihua, Hunan province is now a driving force for economic growth in the city.
Long the poorest region in the province, the remote, westernmost city in Hunan found its isolation turned out to be a gift — its stretches of mountains, range of forests and suitable environment for fruit and vegetables have not been damaged by over-development.
At the end of 2010, more than 68 percent of the city was covered by forest, the highest rate in the province. And on 98.5 percent of the days in a year, air quality in its urban area is good or excellent. The water quality in all its rivers meets or surpasses national-standards.
“Huaihua is a city that can breathe,” local officials said.
It is billed as one of China’s “three major green lungs”. The others are the Greater Hinggan Mountains in Heilongjiang province and the Shennongjia Nature Reserve in Hubei province.
The Huaihua city government began a “green development strategy” in 2008, calling on farmers to make the best use of ecological conditions and invest in agricultural and forestry production.
There are now more than 2,000 local households that each cultivate at least 33.33 hectares of fruit trees. The most well-known are Fu Xihe, who grows oranges, and Wang Hongyuan, who harvests peaches.
Investors attracted to the fruit include leading domestic beverage makers Wahaha and Huiyuan. They now process about 700,000 tons of local fruit every year.
Huaihua is also a productive land for traditional Chinese herbs, with harvests of several types that rank among the top in the country.
Pharmaceutical company Hunan Zhengqing Group has found large potential in houttuynia cordata — or “fishy-smelly herb” — a common plant in Huaihua, which it uses to make medicine. Last year the company invested in a new plant in Huaihua for the product.
The rich array of herbs in the mountains of Huaihua means the company will contribute tens of billions of yuan in revenues to the biomedicine industry of Hunan, said She Weijia, assistant to the president of Zhengqing Group.
Kudzu root is another specialty in Huaihua that has great value in the market for health products. An old Chinese adage says the medicinal value of the kudzu root indigenous to the southern half of China rivals ginseng in the north.
In January this year Hunan Xingxiang Investment Holding Group Co invested 100 million yuan in the local company Xianghong Geye, already the nation’s biggest kudzu root cultivator and processor.
The investor, backed by the provincial government, plans to pour an additional 300 to 500 million yuan in Xianghong Geye in the next five years for further expansion.
Local officials said that ecological-related industries are their first choice as they aim to build the city into a leader in Hunan’s green economy.