Follow General Secretary to See China | New Development Area: Stabilizing the Capital's "Vegetable Basket", Creating a New Consumption Vitality Land, Creating a New Consumption Vitality Land -- News Report | Follow General Secretary to See China | New Development Area: Stabilizing the Capital's "Vegetable Basket"|

In Beijing, "Xinfadi" is a well-known landmark.

When it comes to it, people will think of words such as abundance, freshness, and affordability. The Beijing Xinfadi Agricultural Products Wholesale Market has become the largest professional wholesale market for agricultural products in Beijing, playing a very important role in serving the citizens of the capital, prospering the capital economy, promoting agricultural efficiency, and increasing farmers' income.

Hong Fan has eight policies, and food is the top priority.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shen Hong

"Vegetable baskets", "rice bags", and "fruit plates" are related to thousands of households and are the most basic livelihood. During the Chinese New Year and holidays, safety cannot be forgotten. Wholesale markets should not only focus on expanding their supply, enriching their varieties, and ensuring quality, but also strengthen food testing and market management to ensure that citizens of the capital can eat with peace of mind and comfort.

As a hub for agricultural product trading, Xinfadi Market has invested over 3 million acres of planting bases and more than 10 sub markets nationwide. Every day, 20000 tons of vegetables and 13000 tons of fruits continuously enter Xinfadi, enriching people's dining tables.

New business of enriching the variety of "Big Scallion King"

In the afternoon at Xinfadi Market, the busy figures gradually faded away. "These scallions are of good quality, how much can they be unloaded today?" Merchant Mao Yongxi still bustled around the truck. The vast majority of scallions in Xinfadi Market were wholesale from her. Nowadays, the brand of "Yong Xi Scallion" has already been established, and she is also known as the "King of Scallions" by everyone.

Mao Yongxi communicated with the workers about the shipment of scallions. Photo by Yin Xingyun, a journalist from People's Daily Online

The continuous rain in recent days has made Mao Yongxi pay more attention to the supply and quality of scallions. "Recently, we have to ship in advance in case of delays on the road when encountering rainstorm." She told reporters that in order to ensure the orderly supply of the Beijing market, she should not only focus on the planting bases throughout the country to ship in advance, but also reserve some stocks in advance, "so that citizens can not be left without scallions to eat."

After 21 years of hard work, Mao Yongxi has established onion planting bases throughout the country, forming a stable supply chain. Since the beginning of this year, in order to continuously expand the supply of goods and ensure the quality of scallions, she has shifted her focus to people: previously, there were only a dozen sales personnel, but now it has increased to more than thirty people, and the number of loaders and deliverymen is gradually increasing. "These people are almost all recruited from their hometown in Henan, and they can also help their fellow villagers earn more money."

Now, Mao Yongxi's business scope has expanded to the fruit field, including sugar oranges, apples, and wolfberries... Next month, the International Durian Pavilion, in which she participated in the investment, will open for customers in the Xinfadi market.

"This durian pavilion mainly introduces fruits from Southeast Asia and also gathers various high-end brands from home and abroad, because we are directly harvested from the place of origin, with great advantages in price and quality." Mao Yongxi introduced that since the beginning of this year, under the leadership of the Xinfadi market, their exchanges with leading Malaysian durian enterprises have become closer and deeper, and the establishment of the durian pavilion has also been very smooth.

"Consumers can not only choose high-quality durian, but also personally participate in the production of durian pastries and durian cakes." Mao Yongxi excitedly described the upcoming durian restaurant to reporters, "Consumption also needs to transform and upgrade, in order to bring everyone a better experience and let the local people taste more and higher quality agricultural products."

The new identity of "Yunnan Cuisine King" who guarantees supply and stable prices

From the production end to the consumption end of wholesale markets, there may sometimes be a mismatch between supply and demand, and the phenomenon of unsold goods occasionally occurs. In order to address this pain point, the "New Development Market Planting Alliance" has emerged.

"The Planting Alliance is jointly established by numerous merchants from Xinfadi, mainly composed of large-scale planting and distribution merchants in the market. These merchants understand both planting and consumption," said Jiang Chunqing, one of the initiators of the Xinfadi Market Planting Alliance and the "Yunnan Vegetable King".

Jiang Chunqing introduces his agricultural product industry chain products. Photo by Yin Xingyun, a journalist from People's Daily Online

Jiang Chunqing has been rooted in the agricultural product industry for decades. He has brought agricultural products from the source to the end, running through the entire agricultural product industry chain, covering seeds, agricultural inputs, planting, storage and transportation, sales, and catering. Now, Jiang Chunqing has a new identity as the Secretary General of the Planting Alliance. "The biggest purpose of the alliance's establishment is to ensure supply and balance vegetable prices."

In the Yunnan Cuisine Trading Area of Xinfadi Market, Jiang Chunqing opened a foam box, revealing one after another tightly wrapped baby dishes. "Previously, the wholesale price of this category of baby bok choy was around 3 yuan, which was somewhat high. We coordinated with the alliance's base to increase its procurement volume, and this week the price fell back to around 2.5 yuan, stabilizing the price of baby bok choy."

For growers and distributors, isn't it better to sell dishes at a higher price? Faced with questions from reporters, Jiang Chunqing explained that high profits actually hide high risks. For example, the wholesale price of Chinese cabbage remained at a high level of over 1 yuan per kilogram for a period of time, which was actually caused by a decrease in production after the low price of the previous year's vegetable farmers suffered a "blood loss".

"If farmers see cabbage making money this year and blindly follow the trend to increase planting area, it may also cause cheap vegetables to harm farmers." Jiang Chunqing said, "Our alliance can allow market information to directly reach farmers, guiding them to plant according to market needs during planting. This can not only benefit farmers, but also ensure market supply, serving as a balancer."

The reporter further learned that over the years, the Xinfadi market has supplied more than 90% of vegetables in Beijing. Through the analysis of market sales big data, the demand for a certain type of vegetable in a certain period of time can be basically calculated. Then, based on the demand, the production cycle and planting area can be inverted, and allocation can be made within the alliance to maximize the long-term stability of the supply and price of this type of vegetable.

Jiang Chunqing introduced that currently, more than 200 large business owners with their own bases have joined the alliance in the Xinfadi market, covering a vegetable planting area of over 1 million acres. In addition to coordinating production and planting, the alliance will also integrate resources, from seedlings, planting, technology, management, to picking, packaging, transportation, and then to commodity sales, channel expansion, and brand building, forming a complete industrial chain closed loop. Through alliance information sharing, farmers can have a more comprehensive understanding of their production areas and consumer markets, and carry out planting scientifically and effectively. This not only drives local farmers to achieve industrial prosperity and increase employment opportunities, but also ensures the "vegetable basket" and "fruit plate" of the people of the capital, truly benefiting consumers.

A new model of production and sales docking with the "Honey Melon King"

"On the day of the connection, I told the General Secretary about the sales and planting situation of Lankao honey melons," Zhang Zongzhi, the "honey melon king" of Xinfadi Market, told reporters.

Zhang Zongzhi and technical experts from Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences are inspecting crop growth at the Lankao Honey Melon Planting Base.

"At present, the cultivation of honeydew in Lankao has developed from over 1000 acres to over 30000 acres, with an annual output value of 1 billion yuan, driving more than 10000 villagers to live a good life." Starting from 2017, with the support and encouragement of the Xinfadi market, Zhang Zongzhi rooted himself in Lankao with good varieties and techniques, and built a demonstration park for honeydew cultivation.

"We provide seedlings, technology, and sales channels. Farmers work in the base and are paid on a daily basis, so they don't have to worry about whether the sales of honey melons will affect their income." Zhang Zongzhi said, "With the increasing number of local farmers growing honey melons, Lankao honey melons have also become a national geographical indication product for agricultural products.".

Tong Wei, Minister of the Publicity Department of Xinfadi Market, introduced that the success of planting honey melons in Lankao has also led to the exploration of a new production and sales docking model in Xinfadi Market, where the market focuses on both ends and farmers work in the middle. Driven by the market, sales giants have built over 3 million acres of standardized planting bases nationwide, helping 360000 people in 78 counties across the country to achieve poverty alleviation and a better life, and also providing a more solid foundation for ensuring the supply of agricultural products in Beijing's market.

"Next, we need to increase the technological content of Lankao honey melon cultivation, elongate the industrial chain, increase the added value of products, and adopt the 'integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries' development model, so that more farmers can experience the joy of poverty alleviation and wealth through industrial revitalization," said Zhang Zongzhi.

New Thoughts on Ensuring Quality as the "King of Fungi"

On the day of the connection on January 18th, the General Secretary requested "to strengthen the production, sales, and supply guarantee of important livelihood commodities such as grain, oil, meat, eggs, milk, fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms."

In Guo Yang's view, this reflects the General Secretary's emphasis on further enriching the vegetable basket, and he himself has also been greatly encouraged.

After retiring from the military in 2008, Guo Yang came to Xinfadi and managed more than twenty varieties, including apricot abalone mushrooms from Jiangsu, tea tree mushrooms, white fungus, and monkey head mushrooms from Fujian, seafood mushrooms and matsutake from Henan, white jade mushrooms and crab flavored mushrooms from Shanghai, shiitake mushrooms from Hebei, and local flat mushrooms from Beijing. His customer base includes not only merchants from wholesale markets such as Baliqiao, Yuegezhuang, Shunxin Shimen, and Jinxiu Dadi in Beijing, but also some large supermarkets and some government organizations in the city.

Guo Yang introduces fungal products to customers. Photo by Yin Xingyun, a journalist from People's Daily Online

On August 2nd, the reporter arrived at Guo Yang's stall and happened to have a customer coming to purchase. "We have been cooperating for seven or eight years. Guo Yang is a party member, reliable in character, with guaranteed supply of goods and most importantly, excellent quality. We have never had any problems with food safety in these years, so we have been cooperating with him."

Guo Yang introduced to the customer, "This year, morel mushrooms are quite popular, and the quantity has increased by 60% compared to last year. There are also chicken fir mushrooms, red pine mushrooms..."

Seeing off the customer, Guo Yang spoke confidently about the future development and said, "In recent years, the demand for high-end agricultural products among the citizens of the capital has been increasing, and the high nutritional value of mushroom products has also been increasingly recognized. With the huge consumer market in the capital, there is huge room for future development."

A New Future of Transformation, Upgrading, and New Development

The agricultural wholesale market is not only an important place connecting agricultural producers and consumers, but also an indispensable part of people's pursuit of a better life, and is also the source of urban fireworks.

A Glance at the New World Market. Photo by Yin Xingyun, a journalist from People's Daily Online

As the "giant" of Beijing's agricultural wholesale market, the current Xinfadi Market not only carries the "one vegetable, one rice" of the capital people, but also serves as a place for many new farmers to start their own businesses. There are over 30 merchants with an annual transaction volume of over 100 million, and nearly a thousand with over 10 million, forming a pattern of comprehensive wholesale trading of ten major agricultural and sideline products, including meat, grain and oil, aquatic products, and seasonings, with vegetables and fruits as the leading products.

Looking ahead to the future of Xinfadi Market, Zhang Yuxi, Chairman of Xinfadi Market, said, "General Secretary has not only gained a deep understanding of market transactions, but also put forward requirements for us to expand our sources of goods, enrich our varieties, and ensure quality. We need to accelerate transformation and upgrading, further enhance the 'appearance' and 'connotation' of the market, and steadily support the happiness of the people's' tongue '."

This year, Fengtai District of Beijing, where Xinfadi Market is located, will formulate and implement regional control regulations and market upgrading plans, comprehensively deepen the transformation and upgrading of Xinfadi Market, and make arrangements around ensuring supply, building platforms, increasing services, strengthening standards, optimizing the environment, and achieving multiple benefits. We will promote the construction of a national leading agricultural product trading market and modern agricultural product circulation enterprise in Xinfadi, and create a new model for the transformation and upgrading of large-scale agricultural markets in China.

The future Xinfadi will be a place to lead the prosperity of new rural areas and enhance the vitality of new consumption.