Jilin aims to boost ginseng industry

Jilin province will boost its ginseng industry to climb the global high-end ginseng market in the next five years, Bayin Chaolu, acting governor of the province, announced at the first session of the 12th Jilin Provincial People's Congress.

The province plans to promote the deep processing industry by making many preferential policies and implementing a registration system about special pesticide and fertilizer of ginseng in 2013. The gross annual value will reach 26 billion yuan ($4.16 billion) this year.

"The output value of ginseng will reach 40 billion yuan by 2015. And the intensive processing of ginseng products will account for 70 percent of the total," said Zhang Hui, the director of ginseng and deer antler office of Jilin province.

Jilin's ginseng output accounts for 70 percent of the world's total volume but focuses on the low-end market. The annual exports volume of Jilin is about 20 times of that of Korea, but the revenue is only one-twentieth that of Korea.