BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The monk fruit industry in Guilin City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has presented a high-quality development momentum with industrial profits continuing to improve, shows a report released recently.
Monk fruit is known as the "oriental god fruit" which can be used as food and medicine, while Guilin is known as the "home of monk fruit" as it boasts suitable conditions for the planting and growth of monk fruit.
The China·Guilin monk fruit industry high-quality development index report, jointly launched by China Economic Information Service and the Guilin Municipal People's Government, aims at promoting the high-quality development of the monk fruit industry in Guilin by comprehensively reflecting the development level and brand influence of the industry from industrial strength, development quality, industrial environment and industrial benefits.
Photo shows the release of the China·Guilin monk fruit industry high-quality development index.
According to the report, the total index reached 185.67 points in 2021, maintaining a high annual average growth rate of 13.17 percent since 2016.
A complete industrial organization system integrating leading enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives and farmers has been formed in the city, driving the continuous expansion of the industrial scale, with the industrial strength index in 2021 recording 168.37 points.
The development quality index in 2021 rose to 189.85 points, thanks to Guilin's continuous efforts in standard development, scientific and technological innovation, market construction and brand building of the industry.
The sugar substitute sweeteners extracted from monk fruit are exported to Southeast Asia, Europe and America among others, with the export of the whole industry hitting 794 million yuan in 2021.
Guilin has also developed a variety of deep processing products with monk fruit, such as cosmetics, food and drinks, with a number of excellent product brands nurtured.
With strong policy support, the industrial environment index in 2021 remained above 160 points, reaching 164.38 points.
High-quality industrial development has promoted the improvement of industrial benefits, and the industrial benefits index grew to 217.47 points in 2021.
According to the index report, from 2016 to 2021, the average planting income per mu (about 666.7 square meters) of monk fruit in Guilin increased from 5,000 yuan to 9,000 yuan, and monk fruit has become a worthy "fruit of wealth" locally.
(Edited by Gu Shanshan with Xinhua Silk Road, gushanshan.1987@163.com)