Xingguo Oil Tea

Xingguo Oil Tea

　　Xingguo County is home to a diverse range of oil tea cultivars, with oil tea plantations occupying 67% of its mountainous terrain. The average person has 3.9 mu of oil tea land, yielding an individual income of 280 yuan from the oil tea industry. In key producing areas like Jun Village and Chayuan, oil tea has emerged as the leading local industry and a major channel for boosting farmer incomes. There are four varieties classified by ripening season: Qiuzifenzi, Hanluzi, Ershuitao, and Shuangjiangzi, among which “Ershuitao” has been designated as a superior cultivar for provincial promotion. Historical records indicate that oil tea cultivation in Xingguo dates back over 2,300 years. Every village in the county has some oil tea presence, with 18 townships having over 10,000 mu of oil tea cultivation. The largest are Jun Village Township with 165,000 mu and Chayuan Township with 129,000 mu. The county’s annual oil tea product output value consistently reaches 52.25 million yuan, accounting for 7% of agricultural output. Xingguo oil tea also benefits from high per-unit yield and excellent quality. Surveys show that the county has many high-yield examples: for instance, an 80-mu oil tea forest managed by the county economic forest farm typically yields over 20 kg of tea oil per mu in normal years, and up to 30 kg in high-yield years. Farmer Chen Ruisheng from Changzhu Village, Jun Village Township, leases 500 mu of oil tea land from the township forest farm, averaging 11 kg of oil per mu. Villager Ye Aihua from Laoyingpan Village, Gaoxing Town, manages 15 mu of oil tea land with a yield close to 12 kg per mu. Today, Xingguo tea oil is highly favored by consumers for its vibrant color and fragrant taste, and is widely sold to Nanchang, Shanghai, Beijing, as well as Hong Kong and Macau—demand far outpaces supply.

　　　　To enhance the processing and added value of oil tea and its raw materials, the county has developed two large-scale tea oil processing enterprises alongside smaller local workshops. These not only significantly improve oil extraction rates and tea oil quality but have also initiated refined processes like saponin extraction and activated carbon production. Together, the two major processors handle 13,000 tons of tea seeds and 27,000 tons of oil tea cake annually. This not only addresses bottlenecks in the local oil tea industry but also stimulates related sectors in surrounding counties and cities. One of these processors has even been designated by the municipal government as a “Municipal Agricultural Industrialization Leading Enterprise.”

　　　　“Science and technology for oil” has elevated the quality of Xingguo’s oil tea forests. Based on comprehensive surveys, the county selected high-quality “Ershuitao” cultivars, cultivated superior rootstocks, and introduced scions from 42 elite clonal varieties sourced from the Zhejiang Yalin Research Institute. Through grafting, they established an 80-plus-mu seedling base serving both improved variety propagation and scion production. With strong support from national, provincial, and municipal forestry authorities, the county implemented large-scale low-yield oil tea transformation projects in five demonstration townships—Chayuan, Jun Village, Liangcun, Nanjing, and Fengbian. Over three years, a total of 16,000 mu of low-yield oil tea were upgraded, increasing tea oil output by 22,000 kg. For example, after applying low-yield transformation techniques to his 9-mu oil tea plot, Shangguan Jinquan from Yidu Village, Yidu Town, Chayuan Township, raised yields from 2.6 kg to 11.3 kg per mu. In recent years, the county has planned to upgrade 10,000 mu of oil tea annually, gradually improving per-unit productivity. To promote new varieties and technologies, the county has also integrated farmer education initiatives. Run by the Xingguo Oil Tea Office, regular technical training sessions are held, informational materials are distributed, new varieties and techniques are promoted, and standardized procedures for low-yield transformation are enforced. These efforts have led to the emergence of several large producers harvesting over 500 kg of tea oil per year.

　　　　The current state of Xingguo’s oil tea processing industry has drawn particular attention. It is understood that, aside from just two larger processing enterprises, most operations are small family workshops with limited deep processing capacity and a low ratio of product-to-commodity conversion. Due to the absence of fully established brand recognition for leading enterprises, product visibility remains low, directly affecting the broader market access for Xingguo tea oil. Experts point out that establishing a brand innovation mindset, stepping beyond traditional small workshops, and actively integrating into larger markets is the essential path for the “upgrading” of Xingguo’s oil tea industry. To this end, the county must continue striving to implement measures that liberate the oil tea sector from fragmented, small-scale workshop models, fostering an industrialized framework where enterprises link to bases and bases connect to farmers (including the development of high-yield oil tea forest bases). At the same time, processing technology must be rapidly improved, and market mechanisms fully leveraged to truly establish Xingguo tea oil as a brand that remains “in demand” everywhere.

　　　　According to officials from the Xingguo County Forestry Bureau, the county will further refine the responsibility system at all leadership levels, establish signed accountability agreements, clarify tasks, and enforce strict rewards and penalties. The initiative will also fully mobilize the enthusiasm of technical personnel, implementing science outreach initiatives in rural areas, offering free services to forest farmers, and conducting farmer knowledge training sessions in phases. The county will prioritize the promotion of improved seed varieties, utilizing locally bred “Ershuitao” and introduced elite cultivars from provincial and municipal forestry research institutes for afforestation, gradually phasing out inferior varieties. Efforts will focus on implementing meaningful low-yield transformation, prioritizing the conventional upgrading of 400,000 mu of low-productivity forests to boost per-unit yield. In terms of processing, deeper processing of oil tea cakes will be pursued, leading enterprises in tea oil processing will be supported, and challenges faced by forest farmers in selling “oil” and “cake” will be resolved—all to increase the added value of oil tea products.

　　　　In December 2004, the National Forestry Administration announced the third list of “China’s Famous, Special, and High-Quality Economic Forest Towns,” and Xingguo County earned a spot, being designated as the “Hometown of Chinese Oil Tea.” Known as the “Green Oil Depot of Southern China,” Xingguo boasts abundant oil tea resources, with 523,000 mu of oil tea forests, an annual oil yield of 2.3 million kg, peaking at nearly 3.3 million kg. It ranks first in southern Jiangxi and among the top three in the province, making it one of Jiangxi’s largest “green oil depots.” The oil tea industry is a sunrise sector with broad market prospects. Since earning the title of “Hometown of Chinese Oil Tea,” Xingguo County has grown even more confident in expanding and strengthening its oil tea industry. As a result, Xingguo tea oil is now more fragrant than ever, with its reputation spreading far and wide.

　　　　The growing strength of Xingguo’s oil tea industry is the result of years of dedicated focus on oil tea production. For a long time, the Xingguo County Party Committee and County Government have treated oil tea development as a key livelihood industry. They have formulated a comprehensive county-wide oil tea production plan and industrial development implementation scheme, established a county oil tea production leading group, and set up an Oil Tea Office under the County Forestry Bureau. The county has also introduced a series of preferential policies: forestland rights are securely allocated and remain stable long-term, unaffected by population changes; various management models including contracting, leasing, and shareholding for oil tea forests are encouraged, with financial support and interest-subsidized loans provided to large-scale oil tea growers; the county finance department fully returns the special tax revenue from oil tea seeds each year to support oil tea production, allocating 100,000 yuan to the forestry department specifically for cultivating robust seedlings. Additionally, the County Forestry Bureau sets aside 50,000 yuan annually from its afforestation fund for the transformation of low-yield oil tea forests and technological investment.