For rural communities, brands are 'golden key' to escape poverty

Another well-known trademark from Shangzhi county, Kanghua reed leaves, has grown from the grassroots to a big company with annual sales over 150 million yuan. This explosive growth owes a lot to the "branding effect".

Set up in 1997, Kanghua Corp has been collecting, processing and selling fresh and dry reed leaves for more than 20 years. The leaves, traditional wrappings for the Chinese rice snack zongzi, are now also used as decorations for dishes, especially for sushi and sashimi in Japan.

Backed by China's IPR authority, the company upgraded its branding three times to a national reputed trademark, successfully expanding Kanghua reed leaves to a wider audience.

"By taking advantage of the reed leaves industry, we aim to boost high-quality development of the regional economy in remote mountainous areas," said Peng Lihua, general manager of Kanghua Corp.

In 2019, about 1.3 billion reed leaves are sold annually at home and abroad, accounting for 70 percent of the domestic market share. The leaves are also exported to Japan, Singapore, the US and some European countries, where overseas Chinese communities are concentrated.

Stimulated by the power of branding, sales surge offered a path to prosperity for impoverished villagers in Sangzhi county.

According to official data, about 60,000 villagers are involved in the reed leaves industry with 3,769 low-income families have shrugged off poverty.

To shoulder the social responsibility to assist special groups, Kanghua Corp also hired 68 physically challenged workers on the same salary as other employees.

An example for the world

Sangzhi in Hunan province has set up a great example for rest of the world on how to use GIs to "nurture local brands, develop an industry and benefit people", said Liu Hua, director of the World Intellectual Property Organization Office in China.

"Policy support, education and investment are widely-known tools applied in the poverty alleviation fight, while 'the example of Sangzhi' demonstrates a new path to fortune by taking advantages of GIs, which have proved their long-term effectiveness and sustainability," Liu added.

Statistics from the China Intellectual Property Administration show among the 832 impoverished counties removed from poverty list, over 60 percent own GI labels. The output of GI products in China so far has reached a staggering 1 trillion yuan.