导语：Longhui County has been designated as the "Hometown of Chinese Honeysuckle" by the National Forestry Administration. It is a renowned "Hub for Honeysuckle and Longya Lily Industries," a National Agricultural Standardization Demonstration Area, and one of Hunan Province’s first D
Longhui County has been designated as the "Hometown of Chinese Honeysuckle" by the National Forestry Administration. It is a renowned "Hub for Honeysuckle and Longya Lily Industries," a National Agricultural Standardization Demonstration Area, and one of Hunan Province’s first Demonstration Counties for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Cultivation Bases. The honeysuckle industry serves as a leading pillar of Longhui’s distinctive agricultural economy, boasting a long cultivation history and abundant resources. In recent years, the county has leveraged these advantages to vigorously promote standardized production, playing a pivotal role in lifting residents of its high-altitude ethnic minority mountain regions out of poverty.
I. Overall Industry Development
By the end of 2024, Longhui County cultivated 153.3 square kilometers (23,000 mu) of honeysuckle, yielding 15,000 tonnes of dried flowers. The industry’s total output value reached RMB 4 billion, with both cultivation scale and output value ranking among the highest nationally. Longhui has established a complete industrial chain spanning planting, processing, sales, and integrative medicinal tourism. The county has become China’s primary trading hub for honeysuckle, attracting transactions from neighboring provinces and cities, and has developed a well-established distribution center for the product.
II. Processing and Sales
Nearly 100% of Longhui’s honeysuckle undergoes primary processing locally. The county hosts over 300 primary processing enterprises, forming the largest honeysuckle processing cluster in southern China. Deep-processing companies—including Shengshifenghua, Hongli Pharmaceutical, and Baimashan Pharmaceutical—operate advanced production lines for value-added products such as honeysuckle probiotics, feed additives, teas, and hydrosols. The Xiaoshajiang TCM Market, focused on honeysuckle, handles approximately 20,000 tonnes of goods annually.
III. Cultivation of Business Entities
The county has 12 key enterprises engaged in honeysuckle and other TCM cultivation and processing, including:
- 5 provincial-level leading agricultural enterprises**:
Hunan Shengshifenghua Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Hunan Hongli Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Hunan Baimashan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Longhui Tianyu Modern Agricultural Development Co., Ltd.
Hunan Longhui Yidu Selenium-Rich Tea Co., Ltd.
- 8 municipal-level leading enterprises**
- 72 honeysuckle cooperatives** (including 1 nationally recognized model cooperative)
- 2 provincial-level specialized honeysuckle industrial parks**
IV. Product Development and Brand Building
As a national pilot county for sci-tech-driven honeysuckle industry development, Longhui maintains close partnerships with institutions like the Hunan Academy of Forestry and the Nanjing Botanical Institute (Chinese Academy of Sciences). It has established expert service teams and provincial engineering research centers at Shengshifenghua and Hongli Pharmaceutical, driving innovations such as honeysuckle probiotics, toothpaste, hydrosols, and antibiotic-alternative feed additives.
Brand Accolades:
- Longhui Honeysuckle holds dual status as a "National Product of Geographical Indication Protection" and "Geographical Indication Certification Trademark."
- Hongli Honeysuckle is certified as an "organic food" by China.
- Three cultivars—‘Jincuilei’, ‘Yincuilei’, and ‘Baiyun’—are recognized as "National superior forest tree varieties" by the State Forestry Administration.
- The ‘Huayao Late-ripening’ variety is certified as a "provincial superior forest tree variety".
- In 2018, "Longhui Honeysuckle" was listed in Hunan’s "One County, One Specialty" catalog.
- In 2019, it was included in Hunan’s "Xiang Jiu Wei" (Nine Signature TCMs) brand directory.
V. Farmer Engagement
The honeysuckle industry has significantly boosted incomes in high-altitude impoverished areas. To ensure farmers benefit from secondary/tertiary industry value chains, Longhui employs three models:
1. Enterprise-led support: "Leading enterprise + base + farmer" partnerships with benefit-sharing mechanisms.
2. Price-guaranteed procurement: "Enterprise + farmer" or "Enterprise + cooperative + base + farmer" frameworks with mutually agreed minimum prices.
3. Equity participation: Farmers contribute land or capital to form risk-sharing, profit-distributing cooperatives ("guaranteed base price + dividend" model).
The industry engages 59,000 households (180,000 people), with annual incomes ranging from RMB 10,000 to hundreds of thousands. In 2022, the per capita disposable income of farmers in core producing areas reached RMB 15,475 (approx. $2,170) —36% higher than the county’s rural average (RMB 11,379, approx. $1,590 ).
VI. Industry Brand Story
Longhui Honeysuckle is a foundational herb in TCM, historically prized for its heat-clearing and detoxifying properties. During the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279 AD), it was widely used to combat epidemics in central Hunan. By the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), local healers adopted its flowers for enhanced efficacy.
Cultivated for over 40 years, Longhui’s Xiaoshajiang Town is now a nationally renowned honeysuckle production and trading base with 170+ TCM businesses. Products are sold across China and Southeast Asia, with dedicated outlets in 10 major domestic TCM markets (e.g., Guangxi Yulin, Guangzhou Qingping). A 300-member marketing team has established distribution channels in 20+ provinces. During harvest seasons, the area thrives with merchant activity and bustling logistics.