STORY: Ginger industry in E China goes smart, global
SHOOTING TIME: March 28, 2024
DATELINE: April 3, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:16
LOCATION: JINAN, China
CATEGORY: MARKET

SHOTLIST:
1. various of ginger planting and processing
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): LIU XIJING, Local official in Laiwu, Shandong
3. various of the ginger processing 
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): YAN ZHENHUA, Agriculture and rural affairs bureau of Laiwu district

STORYLINE:

Thanks to smart planting technologies and well-developed processing capacity, ginger businesses in Laiwu in east China's Shandong Province has gone global.

With about 2,000 years' history of ginger cultivation, Laiwu boasts 156 varieties of the spice and over 900 companies involved in the processing industry.

The smart greenhouse has greatly saved labor and boosted productivity. Only four people could manage 20 greenhouses.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): LIU XIJING, Local official in Laiwu, Shandong
"All these greenhouses are automated. There are automatic spray irrigation system and automatic drip irrigation system, realizing fertilization and irrigation simultaneously and high-efficiency agriculture."

Nowadays, over 130 varieties of gingers produced in Laiwu have been exported to over 100 countries and regions.

Last year, Laiwu exported 114,200 tonnes of ginger and ginger-related products, with an export value of 1.38 billion yuan (about 190 million U.S. dollars).

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): YAN ZHENHUA, Agriculture and rural affairs bureau of Laiwu district
"Over 240 enterprises here are dedicated to ginger processing and export. About 70 percent of the world's ginger slices come from Laiwu. The proportion of exports of high value-added ginger products is increasing."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Jinan, China.
(XHTV)