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Due to its role in boosting rural revitalization, geographical indication was a key issue discussed at this year's National People's Congress, which concluded last week. Zhang Li, an NPC deputy and deputy head of the Anhui provincial institute of veterinary drug and feed control, said that industrialization is key to a booming rural economy. She spoke to Crnews, a news portal focused on rural development. Zhang suggested integrating GI products into the development of rural industries as part of efforts to lift farmers out of poverty and boost their income. At Huanggang town in Funan county of Anhui province, its signature craft of willow weaving has become crucial to helping residents escape poverty. In 2011, the craft was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage item and has been protected as a GI trademark since. By the end of 2017, 240 companies in the county were engaged in the willow weaving industry. It has created 120,000 jobs and helped more than 10,000 people through poverty alleviation, local media reported. By 2019, Anhui had a total of 78 types of GI-marked products. Their total sales achieved 41.46 billion yuan in 2019. Of these, 47 types of GI-marked products are related to poverty alleviation, benefiting 260,800 people. It has helped the poor increase their annual per capita income by 2,559 yuan, according to Cheng Yin, deputy head of the Anhui Administration for Market Regulation. Making full use of GI trademarks to help poverty alleviation and rural revitalization has become a general consensus among market watchdogs, Cheng said. In Yunzhou district, once a poverty-stricken area of Datong city in Shanxi province, planting day lilies has become a pillar of the local economy. The district has a long history of day lily cultivation but it had never been large-scale. In 2006, the "Datong Huanghua (day lily)" was registered as a GI trademark, paving the way for the district to develop the industry. Local authorities have helped to develop the industry through technical support and brand promotion. "My life now blossoms thanks to the day lily," local farmer Tang Wan told Xinhua News Agency. By growing 2.67 hectares of day lilies, Tang, who was once poor, is now able to afford his three children a college education. "Day lilies have changed the lives of many and poverty no longer bothers us," said Tang. He added there are many new college students, cars and houses in the village, backed by the industry-something that was rarely seen before. The total plantation area of day lilies in the district has increased from around 1,000 hectares before 2010 to more than 10,000 hectares now. This generated a total revenue of 65 million yuan in 2019. In East China's Fujian province, Fuding white tea is an epitome of the province's industrial development with GI protection. Certified as a GI product in 2004, Fuding white tea has contributed to providing more than 80,000 jobs in the city, according to the National Intellectual Property Administration. "Registration and proper use of GI trademarks help to promote agriculture's industrialization, scaling up production and brand building," said an official with Fuding city's market regulation bureau. By the end of 2019, Fujian province had an inventory of 497 GI trademarks and 74 related products. Last year, Fujian province ranked second in China by number of GI trademarks. Its number of GI trademark registrations has ranked first in the country for two consecutive years.
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