In the remote mountains of Guizhou, a landlocked province in southwest China where tradition runs as deep as its valleys, locals are transforming agricultural products into global commodities, breathing new life into rural economies.

Tucked away in the rugged landscape of Sinan County, a rural food factory churns out over 100,000 boxes every day of fiery sweet potato noodles -- a spicy instant food popular among young eaters.

Last year, thanks to cross-border e-commerce platforms like Alibaba and JD.com, many of the products were shipped overseas to countries including Saudi Arabia.

"Food isn't just for domestic tables; it deserves to serve worldwide palates," said Zhang Cheng, the company's chairman.

Zhang added that the company aims to double its overseas sales to 2 million U.S. dollars in 2025, with a focus on the markets of the Republic of Korea and countries in Southeast Asia, where Chinese instant noodles are helping to satiate a hunger for convenience foods.

In 2023, Sinan became one of Guizhou's first pilot counties to develop "rural foreign trade." To date, its exports have surged past 200 million yuan (about 28 million U.S. dollars), with products like tea and sweet potato noodles sold to Vietnam, Indonesia and European countries, according to government figures.

James Finlay (Guizhou) Tea Co., Ltd., the county's only foreign-owned enterprise, delivers its products to clients in Poland and Britain.

Liu Renjun, the company's production manager, said following the Chinese New Year, orders from overseas rose compared with last year, and the company is expected to export 600 tonnes of tea products worth 1.2 million U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year.

A government plan issued by the provincial department of commerce and other departments in 2023 said Guizhou aims to have 500 enterprises engaged in rural exports by 2025 to add 5 billion yuan to annual export revenue in the sector.

Customs data shows that, last year, the province exported several agricultural products, including honey-sugar plums and gastrodia liquor, for the first time.

According to data from the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China's agricultural exports reached 103 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, marking a 4.1 percent increase over the previous year.

In sweet potato noodle production alone, more than 60,000 county residents are involved in the industrial chain from farming, processing to sales. Zhang's company plans to recruit more than 100 people to open more production lines to meet the rising orders.

"Together with the domestic orders, we're targeting 1 billion yuan in sales revenue this year," said Zhang. 

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