Sea buckthorn a boon for county in Hebei

Like Wang, there are about 5,000 residents in Guyuan who have earned additional income thanks to the sea buckthorn industry.

In the past, the county government struggled to find economic value in the plant, and it was thus overlooked. Now, sea buckthorn is a lucrative crop with various uses.

Besides bearing fruit, sea buckthorn is a remarkable tree species that can withstand drought and wind erosion and can still grow in saline-alkali soil. It can also serve as an effective windbreak and plays a role in soil conservation.

Qiao Yanping, founder of Zhangyuan Shengguo, saw an opportunity with the plant.

"It was necessary to have our own leading enterprise," said Qiao, who used to work in Beijing.

She was optimistic about the prospects of the sea buckthorn industry and decided to return to Guyuan, her hometown, to take part in the industry's development.

In 2018, Qiao established her company in cooperation with the local government in Xiaochang town. The company organized employees to visit leading sea buckthorn producers to learn from their experiences in the industry and about related technology.

It also introduced production lines to carry out sea buckthorn pulp processing and juice production, eventually achieving an annual production of over 500 tons of pulp and 5,000 tons of juice.

The products are sold domestically as well as internationally in countries including Japan and South Korea, with an annual sales volume of over 30 million yuan, according to the company.

"We plan to further expand our production scale, forming a full industry chain for the development of the sea buckthorn industry," Qiao said.