Guangchang County's forest-based economy fuels rural development

Deep in the lush mountains of Guangchang County in Jiangxi Province of east China, Haoyuan Farm was buzzing with activity on March 24.

In a livestream at the farm, Li Xinrong, the farm's representative, cracked open a freshly collected organic egg for viewers, revealing its rich yolk. "Our chickens roam freely in these forests," Li said. "They feed on insects, drink spring water and eat mixed grains." Within minutes, the eggs he had just listed online were sold out.

The small forest eggs reflect a much larger trend: the rapid growth of China's forest-based economy, a development model that uses forest resources to generate both ecological and economic value.

Growing industry

The forest-based economy refers to economic activities conducted within forest ecosystems under sustainable management principles. These include under-forest cultivation—an agricultural practice that involves growing crops, medicinal plants or raising livestock beneath the protective shade of a forest canopy—harvesting and processing forest products, as well as forest tourism.

The outline of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) for National Economic and Social Development calls for expanding forest-based industries, strengthening forestry and grassland sectors, and raising the level of mechanization.

China possesses substantial natural advantages for developing this sector. According to the National Greening Committee, the country's total forest stock volume came close to 21 billion cubic meters in 2025, and the national forest coverage rate reached 25.1 percent.

The National Forestry and Grassland Administration revealed that about 40 million hectares of forest land across the country are currently used for under-forest economic activities, generating roughly 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in annual output; and forest-based food production exceeds 200 million tons, making it the country's third largest agricultural product category after grain and vegetables.

The growing attention to forest-based industries reflects their multiple benefits. Understory industries help to diversify food supplies, support greener agriculture by reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides, and create new income opportunities for rural communities. The concept aligns with the idea that environmental protection and economic development can reinforce one another.

Guangchang illustrates how the approach is unfolding at the local level.

The county has a forest coverage rate of 71.83 percent, but many of its woodland areas previously produced little direct economic value.

"Much of the forest used to be what we called 'sleeping resources,'" Luo Yusheng, a local villager, told Beijing Review. "Trees were planted after farmland was converted back to forest, but nobody really managed them for income."

In recent years, Guangchang has launched a systematic plan to develop forest-based industries, aiming to "build another Guangchang in the mountains."

Under the plan, the county is developing a forest-based industrial park centered on the Xujiang Ecological Public Welfare Forest Farm, with projects across all 11 townships and farming areas.

Key products include medicinal herbs such as gangmei (Ilex asprella), the roots and leaves of which are used to clear heat, relieve toxicity, reduce swelling and alleviate sore throat and cough in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and huangjing (polygonatum sibiricum), the rhizome of which is used to replenish energy, nourish one's yin, and strengthen the spleen and stomach in traditional medicine. Other popular products include edible mushrooms, forest-raised poultry and camellia oil crops.

The county government has set up a special fund for gangmei cultivation and partnered with provincial forestry research institutes and TCM universities to provide technical guidance.

By 2025, the county's forest-based economy had reached an output value of 2.13 billion yuan ($298 million), up 11 percent year on year, increasing the annual income of more than 10,200 forestry households by over 3,000 yuan ($420) each.

In 2025, Guangchang was designated by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment as a practice and innovation base for exemplifying the notion that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," or "green is gold," a concept put forward by President Xi Jinping.

Local innovation

In Guangchang, the key to developing forest-based industries lies in making full use of local resources.

The county is known as China's hometown of the white lotus. Beyond producing lotus seeds, Guangchang has built a circular agricultural system that reuses byproducts such as lotus shells.

One example is Fuzhou Licai Edible Fungi Technology Co. Ltd., which operates 280 hectares of forest-based cultivation. The company uses agricultural waste from the region's lotus industry as raw materials for mushroom substrates. Each year, it consumes about 2,000 tons of lotus byproducts, buying dried lotus shells from farmers for around 500 yuan ($70) per ton.

"In the past, farmers often burned or discarded this as waste," Xie Yuancai, the company's general manager, told Beijing Review. "Now it has become a resource that supports mushroom production."

The mushrooms themselves have also moved from traditional greenhouses into forest environments.

"The temperature differences and humidity under the forest canopy are ideal," Xie said. "Using lotus shells as substrate also improves flavor and texture. The quality is far better than that of greenhouse products."

Consequently, forest-grown mushrooms command higher prices. For example, Agrocybe mushrooms sell for about 320 yuan ($45) per kg, compared with 80 yuan ($11) for greenhouse-grown ones. The products are sold in markets including Taiwan, Shanghai and Guangzhou, where demand has been strong.

The company's mushroom base generates around 50 million yuan ($7 million) in annual output and provides 136 local jobs, with average monthly wages exceeding 5,000 yuan ($700), about 3,000 yuan ($421) higher than the monthly per-capita disposable income of rural residents in Jiangxi.

To help forest products reach wider markets, Guangchang has embraced the digital economy. The county has been training local e-commerce entrepreneurs and livestream hosts to sell products through major platforms such as popular shopping platforms Taobao and JD.com, and Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok).

All in all, forest products sold through online channels generate about 150 million yuan ($21 million) in annual revenue.

Haoyuan Farm livestream is one example. Its Douyin account has more than 600,000 followers and promotes products by showing the chickens' natural forest habitat.

As of late November 2025, the farm had sold more than 210,000 organic eggs through livestreaming, generating over 500,000 yuan ($70,000) in revenue.

"Demand is strong—we can barely keep up," Li said.

Local authorities plan to further expand mushroom and medicinal herb industries, while encouraging deeper processing and eco-tourism linked to forest resources.