In 2023, Huaihua’s grain production area reached 4,624,200 mu (308,280 hectares), with a total grain output of 1,961,500 tons. The high-quality rice covered an area of 2,379,000 mu (158,600 hectares), and the output value of the entire grain industrial chain was RMB12.5 billion. Huaihua is among the five major oil-tea camellia production areas, the four major oil-tea camellia industrial clusters and the three oil-tea camellia industrial belts in Hunan Province. It is home to a number of nationally renowned trademarks, famous products and national geographical indication products, such as Dongge and Yangjiajiang. Huaihua’s high-quality oil-tea camellia bases cover a total area of 850,000 mu (56,666.67 hectares), with a comprehensive output value of over RMB4.5 billion. Currently, the city has 516 grain and oil processing enterprises, 28 secure grain and oil demonstration processing enterprises at or above the provincial level, and 38 leading grain and oil enterprises at or above the provincial level.
Huaihua’s fruit planting area reaches 2,349,600 mu (156,640 hectares), with an annual output of 2,914,700 tons. It ranks first in Hunan Province in terms of the planting area, output and output value of fruits. Specifically, the citrus planting area is 1,444,500 mu (96,300 hectares), with an annual output of 2,091,700 tons. The city ranks first in the country in terms of the planting area and output of sugar oranges. It is the largest production base of sugar oranges in China. Huaihua has four national and provincial fruit base counties and 136 large-scale commodity production bases, including 19 bases with an area of over 10,000 mu (666.67 hectares) and 45 bases with an area of over 5,000 mu (333.33 hectares). It boasts an industrial pattern consisting of the advantageous citrus industrial belts (mainly in Mayang, Zhijiang, Xupu, Chenxi and Hongjiang City), the waxberry planting base in Jingzhou, and the grape planting base in Zhongfang.
Huaihua produces 4,021,200 pigs, 191,700 beef cows, 894,400 mutton sheep, 37,825,700 poultry, 21,500 tons of bird eggs, and 82,700 tons of aquatic products each year. It has 1,130 large-scale livestock and poultry farms, whose livestock and poultry account for 50% of the city’s total. It has 48 national and provincial standardized demonstration farms, 18 provincial modern agricultural characteristic industrial parks (demonstration industrial parks), and 13 national healthy breeding bases for green aquatic products. 99.7% of the large-scale farms in Huaihua are equipped with manure disposal facilities, and the comprehensive utilization rate of manure reaches 88.04%. The city’s livestock and poultry production is transforming towards large-scale, standardized and intensive production.
Key enterprises: Hailian Food, Xuefeng Foodstuff, Yuanling Daqu, Tian Tian Fen Ye Co., Ltd., Shengyuan Edible Oil, Qinxiang Jiuzhou, Yangjiajiang Oil-tea Camellia, Huaxing Oil Industry, Laocai Food, Hexiang Duck Industry, and Blue Phoenix Agriculture.
Development priorities: Deep processing of rice; planting, post-harvest treatment, deep processing, distribution (cold chain) and sales of citrus, waxberry and Chinese bramble grape; planting, deep processing and sales of oil crops such as oil-tea camellia, oilseed rape, peanuts and sesame; standardized breeding of cattle, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese and other livestock and poultry; pork products, such as fresh and cold meat, cut meat, cooked meat, and fermented meat; high-end cooked snack food and pre-made food, such as beef, mutton and poultry meat; dried eggs, special egg liquid, protein powder and other products.
Cattle breeding Shelduck breeding
Oil-tea camellia planting Jingzhou waxberry
（Translated by Professor Yu Jie）