Chilis add spice to Guizhou鈥檚 economy
Print Edition
In the fall harvest season, the scent of chilies fills a small town in southwest China鈥檚 Guizhou Province.
The town of Xiazi in the city of Zunyi is a famous chili transaction center. Farmers from hundreds of miles away take their chilies there to sell, and brokers with different accents travel there to buy the red produce, which later features on dining tables across the country and around the world.
鈥淲e have seen another bumper harvest year,鈥 said Zhang Zhongyi, an official in charge of the chili industry in Guizhou. He said he expects the average income of chili farmers to reach more than 4,000 yuan (US$625) per mu this year, or 60,000 yuan per hectare.
Guizhou is one of the largest chili production and sales bases in China. An exotic plant species like the tomato, chilies are called 鈥渉aijiao鈥 by many locals, which literally means 鈥渟ea chili.鈥
鈥淭he word has revealed that the species came from the sea,鈥 Zhang said, noting that it was through the ancient Maritime Silk Road that chilies were imported to China from South America.
Hundreds of years ago, the inland region of Guizhou was short of salt, so locals turned to chilies to add flavor to their dishes. Chilies have now become a symbol of the province, with the related products exported to 108 countries and regions.
Xiazi resident Chen Shunguo began engaging in the chili business 28 years ago at the age of 18.
鈥淐arrying a basket on my back, I bought chilies from farmers in the fields before selling them in the market. At that time, a non-local broker could buy up to 1,500 kg in the market and have them delivered by train,鈥 said Chen, now 46.
Today, Chen鈥檚 company covers an area of more than 700 square meters, which includes a processing zone, a transaction zone and a warehouse, in a chili trading center of the town. His company handles some 2,000 tonnes of chilies every year.
The trading center 鈥淐hina Chili City鈥 is home to about 300 chili businesses like Chen鈥檚. The center has integrated transactions, processing and packaging, cold chain warehousing, logistics distribution, financial services and other functions.
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