[Video provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

Zhang Boli, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, delivers a keynote speech via video on Sept 20. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

The 2022 Ginseng Industry High Quality Development Conference was held on Sept 20 in Changchun and Baishan cities in Northeast China's Jilin province, to discuss the current development trends in the ginseng industry and plot a path for its future development, according to local media reports.

At the Baishan venue of the conference, experts and industry leaders delivered keynote speeches and 36 projects that will boost the ginseng industry were signed.

Jilin province boasts a long history of growing the lucrative plant. Statistics show that more than 60 percent of all ginseng in China is from Jilin and more than 40 percent of ginseng in the world comes from the province. Each year, Jilin exports huge amounts of it to South Korea, Japan and other countries.

The Changbai Mountains area is the origin and core production area for Chinese ginseng, with a history of more than 450 years of artificial cultivation of ginseng and a recorded history of more than 1,500 years of domestic use of wild ginseng. Fusong and Jingyu counties – under the administration of Baishan city – have been named the "Hometown of Chinese Ginseng" and "Hometown of Chinese American Ginseng," respectively.

Jilin province has incorporated the medical and health industry into its ginseng industry layout known as "One Main, Six Double" – the title for a series of plans.

The province has issued a series of policies to develop a great environment for the sector, including the paper "Opinions on Promoting the High-quality Development of the Ginseng Industry" and the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Ginseng Industry in Changbai Mountains of Jilin Province".

By the end of 2021, the output value of the ginseng industry in Baishan city hit 20.46 billion yuan ($2.9 billion).