Panjin City has earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the work plans of the Provincial Party Committee, as well as the requirements of Liaoning’s Three-Year Action Plan for New Breakthroughs in All-Round Revitalization. On the firm foundation of strictly upholding the red line for arable land, the city has prioritized the development of agriculture and rural areas, vigorously carried out the strategy of “storing grain in the land and in technology,” and made concerted efforts to build Panjin’s rice industry into a national key link in the agricultural whole-industry chain. At the same time, the city has continuously advanced the construction of beautiful countryside across the entire region, steadily enhanced rural social governance, maintained its leading position in both the rural production and living environment and per capita disposable income, and strived to place rural revitalization at the forefront of the province and even the nation.
A magnificent panorama of a strong agriculture, beautiful countryside, and prosperous farmers is gradually unfolding across the land of Panjin.
Rice and River Crabs: Two Major “Industry Alliances” Boost Farmers’ Incomes
On September 6, Panjin City held the inaugural River Crab Opening-Catch Festival. Amid the eager eyes of tens of thousands of crab farmers, Panjin’s river crabs have entered another bountiful harvest season. “By adopting a model that integrates the ‘River Crab Alliance’ with production bases and individual farmer households, we have continuously expanded and strengthened the river crab industry. This year, total output is expected to exceed 80,000 metric tons, and the industry’s output value is projected to surpass RMB 6.2 billion,” said Li Baishuang, an agricultural expert at the Panjin Modern Agriculture Development Center.
“The brand values of Panjin Rice and Panjin River Crab have now reached RMB 59.242 billion and RMB 40.981 billion, respectively!” This latest data, unveiled at the opening of the Fourth China Panjin Rural Revitalization Industry Expo on September 23—the Harvest Festival—is truly inspiring.
A heartening scene of a bountiful harvest unfolds across the fields of Sijiazi Village, Chenjia Town, Panshan County. Photo by Pan Xuan.
Rice and river crabs are key pillar industries of Panjin’s agriculture. This year, the city’s rice-sowing area totaled 1.64 million mu, while the area dedicated to river-crab aquaculture reached 1.75 million mu, with 930,000 mu devoted to rice–crab co-culture. These operations employ 226,000 people and involve 29,000 farming households, each managing at least 10 mu of aquaculture land. As a result, Panjin has become the nation’s largest base for integrated rice–crab farming and the country’s leading producer of river-crab seedlings.
On the firm foundation of strictly upholding the red line for arable land, Panjin City has promoted high-quality rice varieties such as “Honghai Beach No. 1” and “Photosynthesis No. 1,” as well as superior river crab strains; implemented the local standards and technical specifications for Panjin rice (“1+7”) and Panjin river crabs (“1+6”); and innovated a benefit-linkage mechanism featuring “industry alliance + new agricultural business entities + production bases + farmer households.” As a result, Panjin has taken the lead nationwide in forging a path of innovative, full-chain development for the rice industry.
This year, Panjin City launched the “Panjin Rice Brand Enhancement Initiative,” setting the enhancement of the Panjin rice brand and the improvement of its quality and competitiveness as key objectives, and accelerating the transformation and upgrading of Panjin’s signature rice industry.
Relying on the Rice Industry Alliance, Panjin City has further refined the benefit-linkage mechanism of “industry alliance + new agricultural business entities + production bases + farming households,” continuously promoting large-scale land use, high-quality varieties, eco-friendly cultivation and breeding, standardized production, full-process mechanization, and brand-oriented marketing. Through mechanisms such as order-based contracts, land transfer, and self-built bases, the city has expanded the area under large-scale cultivation and breeding, while guiding alliance enterprises to grow premium rice varieties like “Honghaibin No. 1.” This year, the Panjin Rice Alliance has achieved large-scale land use on 519,000 mu, with 157,000 mu dedicated to planting premium rice varieties such as “Honghaibin No. 1.” To date, the Alliance has established 13 agro-industrial consortia focused on rice production, which have extended their reach to nearly 60,000 farming households and boosted the average income of each household by more than RMB 1,000.
As a key entry point and breakthrough for implementing the strategic adjustment of the agricultural structure, Panjin City has successively proposed transforming “crab farming in rice paddies” into “rice cultivation in crab ponds,” shifting from “large-scale crab farming” to “farming large crabs.” The city has vigorously developed ecological crab seedling hatching, crab farming in rice paddies, reed marshes, pit ponds, reservoirs, ditches, and rivers, while also focusing on promoting the high-quality “Photosynthetic No. 1” river crab variety. These efforts have continuously elevated the city’s river crab industry to new heights and increased farmers’ incomes.
Leveraging its advantage in high-quality rice, Panjin City is actively developing itself into a Northeast China grain reserve and distribution hub as well as a base for sophisticated processing and deep transformation. To date, a complete Panjin rice industry chain has taken shape, led by key enterprises such as Yihai Kerry, Shenzhou Wolang, Panjin Grain Depot, Dingxiang Rice Industry, and . These leading firms are fully capitalizing on rice by-products—including rice bran, rice husks, and broken rice—to continuously develop high-value-added products such as rice oil, rice bran wax, precipitated silica, activated carbon, ferulic acid, protein powder, and maltose, thereby steadily refining and deepening the industry.
Leveraging the “upgraded” model of all-domain beautiful countryside, Panjin City has steadfastly integrated the development of rural leisure tourism and agritourism into its rural revitalization strategy, striving to convert ecological advantages into economic ones and inject new vitality into rural revitalization. To date, the city has developed a variety of tourism routes—such as rice-farming homestays, cultural tours of the ancient town of Tianzhuangtai, and rural picking tours—centered around events like the Rice-Planting Festival and the Alkali-Soil Persimmon Festival, and has cultivated a total of one national-level key tourism village and ten provincial-level key tourism villages.
In the first half of this year, rural residents in Panjin saw income growth across multiple channels, with per capita disposable income exceeding RMB 14,000—the highest level in the entire province. It can be said that Panjin has delivered concrete results in all its endeavors and remains at the forefront, with rural industries thriving and farmers’ livelihoods steadily improving.
Real financial investment to enhance farmers’ sense of well-being
“Every household now has access to natural gas, putting an end to the smoke and fumes of cooking over firewood; the roads outside our doors are paved with asphalt, streetlights shine brightly, and we have public buses and fitness plazas; garbage is collected promptly, with sanitation workers sweeping the streets every day; and the alkali-soil persimmons grown in greenhouses sell at good prices right at our doorsteps.” On September 24, Li Xiaoxiu, a villager from Xiaobaizi Village in Dawawa Subdistrict, Panjin City, spoke with a broad smile about the changes in her living environment and way of life: “Our wallets are fuller, our village is more beautiful, and life for us farmers is in no way inferior to that of city dwellers—every day brings more joy and satisfaction.”
The roads are smooth and clean, lined with vibrant flowers, and every household has lush greenery planted both inside and outside their courtyards. Step into Xiaobaizi Village, and it feels like entering a beautiful garden that is both livable and inviting for visitors. “Since the launch of the Beautiful Countryside Initiative, our village has implemented a series of high-standard improvement projects, including environmental remediation of villages and hamlets, infrastructure development, enhancement of public services, and the innovation and preservation of local culture,” said Jia Qingkun, Secretary of the Xiaobaizi Village Party Branch. He added that these dramatic changes have boosted villagers’ morale, with everyone now actively and proactively participating in the governance and development of the village and its hamlets.
This year marks the inaugural year for implementing Panjin City’s Three-Year Special Action Plan for Rural Revitalization. Building on the city’s past achievements—driven by hard work, practical action, and vigorous efforts—Panjin is now committing greater energy and resources to focus on modernization and accelerate the development of livable, work-friendly, and harmonious rural areas.
Unremitting efforts are being made to advance rural development initiatives. Panjin City has issued an implementation plan for promoting these initiatives, coordinating urban and rural infrastructure, public services, and living environments, and vigorously implementing demonstration and leading projects for rural development. The construction of 137.7 kilometers of rural roads across the city is being accelerated; to date, a total of RMB 37 million has been invested, representing 30% of the overall project scope. In addition, work is underway on 73 kilometers of village access roads under the “one matter, one discussion” funding mechanism, with further measures in place to standardize fund management and ensure the smooth completion of these road construction projects. Efforts to consolidate rural drinking water safety are also progressing: the pipeline component of the Liao-Northwest Water Supply Emergency Branch Project, with a total investment of RMB 3.142 billion, has now been completed, while tendering for the RMB 508 million Rural Drinking Water Quality Improvement and Consolidation Project is currently under way.
We will deepen the implementation of initiatives to improve and upgrade the rural living environment. Since the beginning of this year, Panjin has vigorously carried out three key tasks: cleaning up and rectifying the rural environment; conducting surveys to identify black and odorous water bodies in rural areas; and launching a “quality-improvement year” for rural toilet renovation. To date, the city has cumulatively removed more than 40,000 tons of rural domestic waste and over 1,000 tons of agricultural production waste. With regard to the six identified black and odorous water bodies in rural areas, comprehensive remediation is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year. In addition, a new round of surveys and rectification of substandard household toilets in rural areas is being organized to enhance the operation and maintenance management of rural toilets and consolidate the achievements of the rural toilet revolution. In terms of financial support, Panjin has made substantial investments: at or above the municipal level, RMB 150,000 per village (or agricultural community) is allocated annually for rural living-environment improvement and management, totaling RMB 48.3 million; so far, RMB 25.5 million in various fiscal funds for living-environment improvement and rural development has been disbursed in a timely manner.
Meanwhile, Panjin City has continuously raised standards and expanded coverage of rural public services, vigorously promoted balanced development of compulsory education within county boundaries, strengthened rural healthcare infrastructure, and steadily advanced elderly care services in rural areas. To date, Panshan County has invested over RMB 100 million in the construction of multi-purpose arts and physical education buildings, the renovation and upgrading of schools, and the procurement of educational and teaching equipment; the city as a whole has provided training to 72 professionals from primary-level medical institutions, thereby achieving full coverage of integrated traditional Chinese medicine service areas in all primary-level healthcare facilities within its jurisdiction ahead of schedule; and a city-wide unified smart elderly-care information service platform has been established to provide free home-based services to more than 1,100 low-income, near-low-income, and particularly vulnerable elderly individuals with disabilities or partial disabilities who are recipients of minimum living allowances or fall into the low-income bracket, serving both township nursing homes and rural community mutual-assistance happiness centers across the city.
Attracting Talent and Gathering Outstanding Individuals: Igniting a “New Engine” for Rural Revitalization
Right now is peak season for the release of Panjin river crabs onto the market. At the river crab shop owned by dealer Zheng Zhi in Hujiatown, Panshan County, several workers are busy sorting the crabs, while Zheng himself is promptly fulfilling both online and offline orders, keeping everyone bustling with activity. “We ship about 3,000 jin of river crabs every day, mainly to Hebei and Shandong provinces,” he says. “These days, farmers in the surrounding area have no trouble selling their crabs.”
The Crab King Championship is attracting widespread attention.
After graduating from university in 2003, Zheng Zhi stayed in the big city he had long dreamed of, securing the kind of stable job that many “Beipiao” aspire to. Yet his heart always remained with his hometown. In 2011, drawn by Panjin City’s talent-recruitment policies, he resolutely returned home, driven by a passion for entrepreneurship and a determination to help local villagers achieve prosperity together, thus embarking on his journey as a distributor of river crabs. Over several years of hard work, he built cold-storage facilities and leveraged new-media platforms to vigorously promote the “Panjin River Crab” brand, resulting in a steady stream of online and offline orders every day. In recent years, his river-crab business has generated nearly RMB 30 million in annual sales, boosting the average annual income of more than 200 neighboring farming households by RMB 50,000 per household.
The key to rural revitalization lies in people. In recent years, as Panjin has accelerated its efforts to revitalize the countryside, the vast rural landscape has emerged as a vibrant stage for numerous talented individuals to showcase their abilities and realize their aspirations. The steadily growing pool of rural talent is injecting fresh momentum into the development of rural industries and forging a “new engine” for rural revitalization.
Young entrepreneurs returning to their hometowns are contributing to rural revitalization, while local talent is further enhancing this effort. At the Suhua Specialized Planting Cooperative in Shaling Town, Panshan County, Chairman Suhua has led more than 50 households in the village to engage in flower cultivation, generating an annual output value of over RMB 4.5 million. This initiative has created convenient, local employment opportunities for more than 200 villagers, with each earning an annual wage income of over RMB 20,000 right at their doorstep, leading to increasingly prosperous lives.
Today in Panjin City, there are many “strivers” like Zheng Zhi and Su Hua who have put down roots in rural areas, and they have become a vital force in the revitalization of the countryside. In recent years, Panjin has focused on the talent needs of rural revitalization and on the challenges facing the development of the city’s signature agricultural industries. Grounded in the realities of the rural talent pool, the city has invested significant effort in cultivating, employing, and attracting talent, thereby injecting a steady stream of fresh talent into the rural revitalization drive and building a team of rural professionals who are committed to their work, willing to stay in rural areas, and capable of delivering results.
In 2019, Panjin City issued Implementation Opinions on Promoting Rural Talent Revitalization, putting forward targeted measures for the cultivation, introduction, management, deployment, and incentive of various types of talent needed for rural revitalization, thereby providing robust talent support and intellectual assurance for this endeavor. In 2021, a new talent policy was introduced, marking the launch of the “Panjin Elite Talent Program.” In 2022, the talent policy was further refined and upgraded, with the promulgation of Several Policy Measures for Deepening the Implementation of the “Panjin Elite Talent Program” to Accelerate the Building of a City Strong in Talent in the New Era, thus establishing a new-era talent policy framework for Panjin. This framework encompasses ten sub-categories: industry-leading talents, high-end industrial talents, outstanding young talents, distinguished engineers, highly skilled talents, “local-rooted” transfer teams, renowned cultural figures, exemplary educators, eminent medical professionals, and agricultural experts, under which high-level talents from various fields are regularly selected and given prioritized support.
Panjin City has continuously intensified its support in policy, funding, and technology to attract more ambitious young people to take root in rural areas, start businesses, and contribute to local development, thereby cultivating a dynamic new force for rural revitalization that is committed to the countryside, knowledgeable about agriculture, and passionate about rural life. In the first half of this year, Panjin City completed training for 50 practical rural talents and cultivated 20 leading figures in rural industries as “vanguard” leaders. To encourage talent to return to rural areas to innovate and start businesses, the city issued agricultural-related personal guarantee loans totaling RMB 476 million and provided interest subsidies amounting to RMB 6.5258 million for such loans.
Panjin City has also strengthened the development of its cadre team dedicated to “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” work, with a focus on selecting and appointing outstanding cadres who are well-versed in Party building, industrial economics, and “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” affairs to serve on the leading Party and government bodies at the county and township levels. Efforts are being made to recruit high-caliber personnel for the village-level “two committees,” thereby enhancing the overall capacity of village-level core teams to drive rural revitalization.
The 4th China Panjin Rural Revitalization Industry Expo Was Successfully Held
From September 23 to 25, the Fourth China Panjin Rural Revitalization Industry Expo and the Inaugural China Rice Full-Industry-Chain Innovation Exhibition were successfully held at the Northeast Xinfadi Agricultural Product Supply Chain Center. With the theme “Vibrant Industries Drive New Breakthroughs in All-Round Revitalization,” the event adopted a “exhibition-plus-events-plus-forum” format, establishing a national platform for showcasing and exchanging new rice varieties, cutting-edge technologies, advanced equipment, innovative models, new products, and fresh distribution channels.
The Panjin Rural Revitalization Industry Expo has attracted a large number of business visitors for touring and purchasing.
As the nation’s first comprehensive expo dedicated to the revitalization of rural industries, the China Panjin Rural Revitalization Industry Expo has, over many years of meticulous development, steadily expanded in scale and continuously enhanced its professional service standards, with visitor numbers and transaction values consistently reaching new highs. Building on the successes of previous editions, this year’s expo places a strong emphasis on fostering innovative development across the entire rice industry value chain by establishing a platform for showcasing and exchanging ideas and creating an open gateway for collaboration. The event has attracted more than 300 renowned domestic and international enterprises, research institutions, and industry associations (and alliances) as exhibitors, along with over 100 purchasing representatives, achieving a comprehensive upgrade in terms of scale, caliber, content, and services.
During the expo, a series of events were held, including the China Rice Industry Chain Innovation Forum, the National Rice-Crab Industry Development Forum, the promotional event for Panjin Rice “Red Beach No. 1” and the new-harvest rice launch, the “Hundred Travel Buyers Visit Panjin” tourism promotion conference, the performance celebrating the Sixth Chinese Farmers’ Harvest Festival, the 21st Panjin Crab King Competition, and the Northeast New Fadi Agricultural Products Production–Sales Matching and Exchange Conference.
Dalian sea cucumbers, Suizhong white pears, Anshan southern pears—within the Liaoning Province Specialty and High-Quality Agricultural Products Exhibition Area, national geographical indication products and other specialty, high-quality agricultural offerings from all 14 cities in our province are neatly displayed in a row, their rich diversity drawing numerous buyers to stop and make purchases. Panjin serves as one of the main venues for Liaoning Province at the Sixth China Farmers’ Harvest Festival. This expo spans 12,000 square meters and features six major exhibition zones: an Innovation Zone for the Entire Chinese Rice Industry Chain; a Liaoning Province Specialty and High-Quality Agricultural Products Zone; a Panjin Culture and Tourism Zone; a Central Kitchen and Pre-prepared Meals Zone; a Global Specialty Agricultural Products Zone; and a National Premium Vegetable Zone.
As a major national production area for high-quality rice, Panjin highlights its innovative achievements in the entire rice industry chain—“ten excellences” encompassing superior land, superior varieties, superior seedling cultivation, superior management, superior harvesting, superior storage, and superior marketing—making it a true industry expo that sets the direction for the development of China’s rice sector. In recent years, Panjin has pioneered an innovative benefit-linkage mechanism featuring “industry alliances plus new agricultural business entities, bases, and individual farmers.” As a result, the city has taken a leading position nationwide in the full-industry-chain development of rice, spanning everything from land preparation and seed research and development to factory-based seedling raising, mechanized operations, field management, eco-friendly integrated farming, scientific storage, rice processing, packaging, cold-chain logistics, and e-commerce sales. Panjin has thus blazed a trail for innovative, full-chain development in the rice industry. The city’s complete rice industry chain has been selected as a key national agricultural full-chain cluster, and Panjin has been awarded the honorary title of “China’s Rice-Crab Hometown” by the China Fisheries Association.
At this year’s expo, 24 enterprises reached preliminary procurement agreements, resulting in the signing of 12 agricultural product procurement contracts with a total value of RMB 1.698 billion. Notably, the Panjin Rice Association, the Panjin Rice Industry Alliance, and Panjin Rice (Group) Co., Ltd. entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with JD Retail Group on the JD–Panjin Rice Industrial Belt, with a contract value of RMB 1 billion.
Hundreds of Travel Buyers Visit Panjin
On September 24, during the Fourth China Panjin Rural Revitalization Industry Expo, a tourism promotion event titled “The World Is So Big—Come to Panjin for a Vacation,” featuring “100 Travel Buyers Visit Panjin,” was held.
To better implement the “Attracting Tourists to Panjin” initiative, stimulate industrial development, and build a distinctive cultural-tourism brand, Panjin’s Cultural Tourism Promotion Ambassador briefed 150 travel agencies from within and outside the province on the city’s abundant tourism resources. The ambassador promoted key attractions such as the Red Beach National Scenic Corridor, Guangsha Art Street, Jinbo Beach, Beilü Pastoral Area, and Jiangnan Style Garden, while also unveiling a series of high-quality Panjin tour packages—ranging from one-day excursions to five-day itineraries—focusing on six thematic areas: wetlands, coastal tourism, culture, rural experiences, and historical heritage. These offerings comprehensively and multi-dimensionally showcased the new face and significant achievements of Panjin’s cultural-tourism development as the “Eco-City of Wetlands.” In addition, China Travel Service Headquarters, China Travel Global, and Tibet International Employees’ Travel Agency each signed strategic cooperation agreements with Panjin Linghang Travel Agency and Panjin Jinghua International Travel Agency. The parties reached consensus on mutual tourist exchanges, joint marketing initiatives, and itinerary development, which will help Panjin’s major scenic spots welcome more than 400,000 visitors from both inside and outside the region during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays.
“Red Beach No. 1” Rice Highly Popular
“This is the rice made from ‘Honghai Beach No. 1’—what a fragrant aroma!” “Delicious! Could I have another serving, please?”… On September 23, the Fourth China Panjin Rural Revitalization Industry Expo and the inaugural China Rice Full-Industry-Chain Innovation Exhibition officially opened. Among the dazzling array of agricultural products from across the country, the tasting session for this year’s newly launched ‘Honghai Beach No. 1’ rice variety at the Panjin Agricultural Development Group’s exhibition booth proved especially popular, with attendees heaping praise after sampling it.
The innovative exhibition area for the entire rice industry chain offers attendees a brand-new experience.
Panjin Agricultural Development Group has been actively preparing for the exhibition, meticulously planning and designing its display layout, with a particular focus on creating the “Red Beach No. 1” exhibit area. This area will showcase the entire product line of “Red Beach No. 1” rice, telling the story of how a single grain of “Red Beach No. 1” rice makes its journey from seed to the dining table. The event also features in-hall e-commerce livestreaming and influencer-led sales. On the first day of the expo, “Red Beach No. 1” rice made a stunning debut. The Panjin Agricultural Development Group’s exhibit was bustling with visitors, who unanimously agreed that Red Beach is a symbol of Panjin and that Panjin rice is the pride of the people of Panjin—combining the two is both meaningful and evocative.
Since the beginning of this year, under the guidance of the Panjin Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, Panjin Agricultural Development Group has focused on the Panjin Rice Brand Enhancement Project, taking “variety improvement, quality enhancement, brand building, value addition, and increased incomes for local residents” as its core objectives. The group has accelerated the high-quality development of Panjin’s signature rice industry by carefully selecting the premium rice variety Jindao 109 and integrating it with the Panjin Regional Red Beach cultural and tourism brand to create a new brand—“Red Beach”—for high-quality Panjin rice varieties. It has vigorously led efforts to cultivate, promote, and market “Red Beach No. 1” premium rice, successively completing the establishment of a comprehensive product system and packaging design, and organizing five specialized promotional events for “Red Beach No. 1” in key cities across the country. These initiatives have further enhanced the influence of the Panjin rice brand, generating a significant brand synergy effect.
Since its launch, “Red Beach No. 1” rice has garnered an enthusiastic response in both local markets in Panjin and across a wide range of regions, including Beijing, Xinjiang, the Yangtze River Delta, Fujian, Shaanxi, and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. In April and June this year, high-quality “Red Beach No. 1” rice was successively awarded the Gold Medal for Quality Products at the 19th China International Exhibition and Trade Fair for Grain, Oil and Related Equipment and at the 16th Guangzhou IGO World Grain and Oil Exhibition; in September, it once again won the Gold Medal for High-Quality and Healthy Grain and Oil Products at China’s inaugural International Exhibition of Premium Grain and Oil Products and Equipment. During this expo, a promotional event and new-crop launch for Panjin’s “Red Beach No. 1” rice were successfully held, resulting in the signing of procurement contracts for “Red Beach No. 1” rice between Panjin Agricultural Development Group and four other companies, including Jiangsu Jinjian Trading Co., Ltd., with a total intended purchase volume of 5,000 metric tons valued at approximately RMB 60 million.
