1.Introduction to the Project

1.1Project background

1.1.1 Project introduction

This project covers an area of 200,000 ㎡, which has the following main construction contents: ginseng town, ginseng forest health resort, RV campground, sightseeing tour line, ginseng science line, mountain sports, unique accommodations, forest sightseeing, etc.

Enhanced by the abundant natural resources in Shulan City, especially its local characteristic resource - under-story ginseng, the project is more attractive and competitive. As health tourism and ecotourism have become popular trends along with the improvement of people's living standards and the enhancement of health awareness, the project is to satisfy the market demand for high-quality and personalized tourism products through integrating ginseng resources, tourism resources, sports and health preservation together. Moreover, the project makes it easy to leave deep impression through creating a city card of “ginseng city” and attracting various tourists, and is conducive to creating a good reputation effect, attracting more tourists to experience, and forming a virtuous cycle through high quality tourism experience.

1.1.2 Market Prospect

(1) Analysis of Current Market Situation and Development Trends of Tourism Industry

As an important pillar of the national economy, China’s tourism industry has maintained a rapid development trend in recent years, demonstrating strong market vitality and enormous development potential. This industry covers multiple sub sectors such as scenic area operation, travel agency services, hotel accommodation, catering and entertainment, forming a complete industrial chain. From upstream tourism resource development and protection to midstream tourism product design and marketing and downstream tourism services and experiences, all links are closely connected to jointly promote the prosperity of the tourism market. With the acceleration of consumption upgrading and digital transformation, China’s tourism industry is moving towards personalization, intelligence and greenness, providing more diverse tourism experiences for global tourists. At the same time, the cooperation and integration between upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain are increasingly deepening, jointly promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the tourism industry.

In 2023, the number of tourism reception and revenue in various provinces and cities in China experienced significant increase, with remarkable per capita consumption in Hainan Province, Beijing and Jilin Province. Compared to first tier cities in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou City and Shenzhen, the tourism markets in Guizhou Province and Yunnan Province have enormous potential.

After the pandemic, cultural and tourism consumption quickly recovered, with 362,900 tourism related enterprises registered in 2023 and a year-on-year increase of 42.28%. From the perspective of various provinces, Guangdong Province, Shandong Province and Sichuan Province are the top 3 in the existing tourism related enterprises.

Tourism revenue and population growth: In the first quarter of 2024, China’s domestic tourism revenue reached 1.52 trillion RMB yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.0%, reaching a historic high. At the same time, the number of domestic tourists reached 1.419 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16.7%, indicating a strong recovery momentum in the tourism market.

Tourism consumption power has increased: The average tourism expenditure per visit has reached 1,071 RMB yuan, and the average tourism expenditure per visit of urban and rural residents has reached a historical high, indicating that tourism consumption power is continuously being released.

Rural tourism: The development of rural tourism is strong, with nearly 800 million visitors received in rural areas in the first quarter of 2024, setting a new historical high for the same period. Rural tourism has become an important industry to enhance the vitality of rural development, increase farmers’ income, and improve the level of ecological and cultural development.

Inbound and outbound tourism: The inbound tourism market has also performed well, with summer inbound tourism orders increasing by about 70% year-on-year, and the total number of inbound tourists to China increasing by more than 30 times year-on-year. Meanwhile, the outbound tourism market is gradually recovering, with orders increasing by over 40% year-on-year.

Leisure and relaxation, and getting close to nature: Leisure and relaxation, food check-in, and getting close to nature are the core demands of rural tourism for tourists, and "short lying down" has become a new travel purpose.

Family trips and study tours: Summer is the peak season for parent-child and family tours, with the overall order volume of parent-child customers accounting for 35%. The number of high-frequency parent-child families registering for study tours has significantly increased.

(2) Analysis of Current Situation of Health and Wellness Tourism Industry

According to the "National Health and Wellness Tourism Demonstration Base Standards", health and wellness tourism is defined as the sum of various tourism activities that enable people to achieve a natural and harmonious state of mind, body, and spirit through various means such as beauty and fitness, nutritious diet, mental cultivation, and environmental care. According to the business model, health tourism can be divided into migratory bird style, recuperation style, rural style and comprehensive style.

From the perspective of the industry chain, the health tourism industry chain includes upstream real estate development investment, planning and construction, midstream health tourism project operators, and downstream project promotion channel providers. The life-cycle of health tourism projects roughly extends along the chain of “development-planning design-construction-operation”.

Practice precedes theory in the development of health tourism in China. In 2002, Sanya, Hainan Province, was the first to introduce health tourism, but its development scale was limited. In 2012, Panzhihua proposed to develop a national “health and wellness tourism” city, and China’s health and wellness tourism market began to develop rapidly.  In January 2016, the National Tourism Administration released the “National Health and Wellness Tourism Demonstration Base” standard and clarified the concept of “health and wellness tourism”. Health and wellness tourism was officially included in the country’s economic development strategy. The comprehensive emphasis on health and wellness is one of the important signs of economic and social development, which is the progression from survival to daily life, and the emphasis on food and clothing to quality living. Since the 14th Five Year Plan, the country has explicitly stated in relevant plans to vigorously promote the construction of health and wellness tourism demonstration bases, leading to a rapid development trend in the industry.

Since the 14th Five Year Plan, the policy support for the health and wellness tourism industry has reached its peak. In June 2021, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the “14th Five Year Plan for Cultural and Tourism Development”, which clearly stated the development of health and wellness tourism and the promotion of the construction of national health and wellness tourism demonstration bases.

From the number of registered enterprises related to health and wellness tourism, the  number of health and wellness tourism related enterprises in China has exceeded 5,000. From the changes in the number of newly registered enterprises over the years, it can be seen that since 2017, the number of newly registered enterprises in China’s health and wellness tourism industry has shown an exponential growth. In 2020, the number of registered enterprises in the industry exceeded 1200, reaching the peak of previous years. The number of registered enterprises in the industry has decreased from 2021 to 2023.

With the development of China’s economy and society, the improvement of people’s living standards, and the increasing demand for health and physical fitness among the population, China will enter an aging society, and the aging problem will become increasingly severe. At present, 70% of the population in China is in a sub-health state, 21% of the elderly population over 60 years old, 15% of the population in a diseased state, and over 400 million middle-class people pursuing a high-quality life, all of which provide a huge market for health tourism.

According to the news released by the National Tourism Demonstration Evaluation Committee, there are 40 national tourism demonstration bases in the first batch in China, and the first batch of national tourism demonstration bases selected include 10 Chinese tourism and leisure demonstration cities, 10 Chinese green tourism demonstration bases, 10 Chinese humanistic tourism demonstration bases, 5 Chinese blue tourism demonstration bases and 5 Chinese health tourism demonstration bases. In recent years, with people’'s increasing emphasis on healthy living, the “big health” industry is rapidly entering a new round of growth. As a health tourism that combines tourism and the “big health” industry, it has a favorable market environment and is a blue ocean market with huge development space. According to the compilation instructions of the “Service Guidelines for Health and Wellness Tourism Institutions (Draft for Comments)” released by the National Tourism Standardization Technical Committee in May 2022, the transaction scale of health and wellness tourism was about 40 billion RMB yuan in 2015, the market scale reached 69.1 billion RMB yuan in 2018, and the market scale was nearly 83 billion RMB yuan in 2019, with an average annual compound growth rate of about 20% from 2015 to 2019. From 2020 to 2022, due to the global spread of the pandemic, people’s travel has been affected, and the overall operation of the tourism industry is not good. The health tourism market has also been significantly affected. Starting from 2023, a gradual recovery occurs, and according to preliminary statistics, the size of China’s health and wellness tourism market is expected to reach nearly 90 billion RMB yuan in 2023.

(3) Analysis of the current market situation in the ginseng industry

Ginseng, as a highly distinctive traditional Chinese medicine in China, has a long history of application and is a representative medicinal and edible resource with significant activity and rich nutritional value. China is the largest producer of ginseng in the world. From 2015 to 2022, the output of ginseng in China increased from 33,700 tons to 88,000 tons, and the demand increased from 33,000 tons to 90,000 tons.  In terms of import and export, China imported a total of 3693.1 tons of ginseng in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 86.85%, and exported 1,803.4 tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.49%. The main production areas of ginseng in China are concentrated in three northeastern provinces, namely Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning. Data shows that in 2023, the ginseng production in Heilongjiang Province, China is about 44,200 tons, Jilin Province is about 34800 tons, and Liaoning Province is about 4,800 tons.

Technological innovation plays an important role in the ginseng industry, by introducing new technologies and processes to enhance the quality and added value of ginseng, and promoting the sustainable development of the industry. For example, the market for deep processed ginseng products is gradually emerging, such as ginseng drinks, ginseng health products, etc. According to statistics, China's ginseng market has exceeded 29.9 billion yuan in 2024. It is expected that the compound growth rate of this market is to reach 9.6% in the next 5 years. This growth is mainly due to three core factors: aging and increasing demand for health, consumption upgrading, and policy dividends.

The competitive landscape of the ginseng market presents a high degree of market concentration. Large brand enterprises occupy market share by improving product quality and strengthening brand marketing, while small and medium-sized enterprises need to enhance competitiveness through innovation and differentiation strategies.  Consumers’ demand for ginseng products is becoming increasingly diverse, including different varieties, forms, and effects of ginseng products. With the rise of the concept of “light health preservation”, the market for ginseng supplements has also shown a sustained and stable growth trend. In the future, ginseng products will pay more attention to the combination of other traditional nourishing ingredients to achieve composite effects, in order to meet diversified consumer needs.

With the continuous growth of market demand, further optimization of the industrial chain, and the promotion of diversified applications and innovation, the ginseng industry will usher in a broader development prospect. The government's support for the traditional Chinese medicine industry will continue to increase, providing strong guarantees for the development of the ginseng industry. The cooperation between upstream and downstream enterprises in the ginseng industry chain will become closer, achieving resource sharing and complementary advantages, and promoting the coordinated development of the industry.

The construction of the project will rely on ginseng resources for the comprehensive development of the health tourism industry, and build distinctive and high-quality ginseng health tourism projects.

1.1.3 Technical Analysis

This project has hired an internationally renowned team to provide professional design for the project’s planning layout, business format setting, functional positioning, etc., laying the foundation for the project's vitality from the early design stage.

1.1.4 Advantageous conditions of project construction

(1) Policy advantages

The “Opinions of the State Council on Promoting the High Quality Development of Service Consumption” proposes to support the integrated development of accommodation industry with tourism, health and wellness, research and education, and other industries; Vigorously develop the silver economy and promote the development of the smart and healthy elderly care industry.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism's “Domestic Tourism Promotion Plan (2023-2025)” mentions the need to strengthen domestic tourism promotion, enrich high-quality tourism supply, improve tourism consumption experience, enhance public service efficiency, support the transformation and upgrading of business entities, deepen political reforms in key areas, improve the quality of tourism market services, and strengthen market supervision.

The Implementation Plan for the Support Project for Rural Culture and Tourism Leaders (2023-2025) issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism proposes to fully stimulate the development potential of leaders and further strengthen the construction of rural culture and tourism city leaders through strengthening contact services, implementing project funding, building communication platforms, strengthening education and training, and encouraging innovative practices.

The 14th Five Year Plan for the Development of Aging Industry and Elderly Care Service System in Jilin Province clearly states that elderly care services should continue to integrate and develop with related industries, explore the "elderly care services+industry" model, and cultivate new formats such as living and elderly care, cultural elderly care, healthy elderly care, health preservation elderly care, and smart elderly care.

The Implementation Opinions of the General Office of the People's Government of Jilin Province on Accelerating the High quality Development of the Ginseng Industry in the Province clearly stipulate that by 2025, the total output value of the ginseng industry will reach 80 billion yuan. New breakthroughs have been made in key technologies such as the breeding of new varieties of ginseng, efficient cultivation, and deep processing. The key shortcomings in ginseng cultivation, processing, storage, and circulation have been basically filled. Under the forest, non forest land ginseng is involved in coordinated development, with standardized planting bases for garden ginseng and under forest ginseng accounting for 75% and 50% respectively, and a high-quality rate of fresh ginseng exceeding 85%. Vigorously promote standardized production and large-scale operation, with over 80% of large-scale ginseng growers joining the Changbai Mountain Ginseng Planting Alliance. Following the full chain development model, we will further stabilize the primary industry, focus on improving the secondary industry, and accelerate the development of the tertiary industry. The output value of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries will account for 7%, 50%, and 43% respectively. The ginseng industry will enter the fast lane of high-quality development by 2030, with a total output value striving to exceed 100 billion RMB yuan, becoming an emerging pillar industry in agriculture in the province.

At the beginning of his tenure, Comrade Huang Qiang, Secretary of the Jilin Provincial Party Committee, spent 8 days traveling to 11 places in the province to investigate the province's resource endowment, industrial development, and other situations, with a particular focus on the high-quality development of the ginseng industry. At the 7th plenary session of the 15th Shulan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, it was proposed to improve the mechanism for high-quality development of the ginseng industry and create a "ginseng city" as a city card.

(2) Resource advantage

Shulan City has a forest area of 238,021 hectares, with a forest stock volume of 30,168,789 m³and a forest coverage rate of 52.3%, providing a good growth environment for ginseng and Chinese herbal medicine cultivation. The planting area of traditional Chinese medicine in the city is about 2,500 hectares, with a yield of about 3000 tons and an output value of 58 million RMB yuan. The main varieties include Platycodon grandiflorus, Bupleurum chinense, Astragalus membranaceus, Paeonia lactiflora, Achyranthes bidentata, Dandelion, Schisandra chinensis, and Panax ginseng under the forest, with a total of 2,061 hectares of Panax ginseng under the forest.

Shulan City covers an area of 4,559.55 square kilometers, there is a large stock of exploitable land resources, and newly added and reserved land can meet the needs of new projects. Land prices are at a low level among 41 cities in Northeast China.

(3) Talent advantage

Jilin City has universities such as Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin Institute of Chemical Technology, Beihua University, Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology College, Jilin Medical College, Jilin Electronic Information Vocational and Technical College, Jilin Industrial Vocational and Technical College, Jilin Railway Vocational and Technical College, Jilin General Aviation Vocational and Technical College, etc. These universities provide a continuous supply of talent support for production enterprises.

At the same time, Jilin City has a large number of high-quality industrial workers. After training by enterprises and public welfare institutions, more than 10,000 skilled talents are sent to society every year, and more than 20,000 people of various types are trained for society.

Jilin City has obvious advantages in labor resources, with a high proportion of skilled workers in the Northeast urban agglomeration. The labor force is in a dividend period, and the labor cost is relatively low, which can satisfy the needs of various enterprises.

(4) Location and transportation advantages

Shulan City is located at the intersection of two provinces and three cities, in the central area of the Northeast Asian economic circle, in the hinterland of the “China Changjitu Development and Opening Pilot Zone”. It borders Jilin City to the south, Harbin City to the north, and faces Changchun City across the Songhua River to the west. It is within the one hour economic circle of Jilin, Changchun, and Harbin. The transportation within the territory is convenient, with a well connected network of public and railway transportation. There are 8 high-grade trunk highways at the national, provincial, and municipal levels, and three railways, namely Labin, Longshu, and Shuyu, run through the territory. During the 14th Five Year Plan period, the Baiqi Songhua River Bridge steadily advanced, and the advantageous location of Shulan City at the node of “two provinces and three cities” was further highlighted.

1.2 Contents and Scale Project Construction

1.2.1 Construction Scale

The project covers an area of 200,000 ㎡.

1.2.2 Construction Contents

The project covers an area of 67000㎡ and mainly includes the construction of a ginseng town (including a ginseng planting ecological shed, a ginseng visualization processing workshop, a raw material warehouse, a standardized production workshop, a ginseng handicraft workshop experience center, etc.), a ginseng forest health valley, and a RV campground. Sightseeing tour line, ginseng science popularization line;  Forest sports area, ginseng themed home-stays, and forest sightseeing.

1.3 Total investment of the project and capital raising

1.3.1 Total investment of the project

The total investment of this project is 400 million yuan, including construction investment of 304 million yuan and working capital of 96 million yuan.

1.3.2 Capital raising

Enterprise self financing.

1.4 Financial analysis and social evaluation

1.4.1 Main financial indicators

After the project reaches its production capacity, the annual sales revenue is 930.23 million yuan, the profit is 116.28 million yuan, the investment payback period is 6.3 years (after tax, including a construction period of 2 years), and the investment profit margin is 29%.

Note: “10 thousand yuan” in the table is in RMB.

1.4.2 Social evaluation

The project can promote the transformation of Jilin City from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture, tourism and other diversified industries, optimize the industrial structure, and enhance the added value of the industry by developing forest ginseng health tourism. This project will promote the development of related industries such as deep processing of ginseng, development of tourist souvenirs, and catering and accommodation, forming a synergistic effect of the industrial chain and further strengthening the local economic strength.

Ginseng, as an important variety of traditional Chinese medicine, has a long history and profound cultural heritage. The construction of this project will contribute to the inheritance and promotion of traditional Chinese medicine culture, and enhance public awareness and recognition of traditional Chinese medicine. The construction of a forest ginseng health tourism base using forest ginseng resources in Shulan City will become a characteristic tourism card of the city, attracting a large number of tourists to visit and experience, and enhancing the city’s visibility and reputation.

1.5 Cooperative way

Joint venture cooperation, other methods can be discussed face-to-face.

1.6 What to be invested by the foreign party

Funds, other methods can be discussed face-to-face.

1.7 Construction site of the project

Shulan Economic Development Zone.

1.8 Progress of the project

Attract foreign investment.

2. Introduction to the Partner

2.1 Basic Information

Name: Shulan Economic and Technological Cooperation Center

Address: Shulan City, Jilin Province, China

2.2 Overview

Shulan, located in the northeast of Jilin Province, is situated in the "World Golden Rice Belt", "World Golden Corn Belt", and "Ice and Snow Golden Latitude Belt" at 44 degrees north latitude. The city covers an area of 4,559.55 square kilometers and has a total population of 587,000. It has 10 towns, 5 townships, 5 streets and 1 provincial-level development zone, and is known as the "hometown of tribute rice" and "city of fruits". Relying on its favorable resource advantages and industrial foundation, Shulan City currently has five advantageous industries: equipment manufacturing, pharmaceutical and health product production, deep processing of agricultural products, clean energy, and mineral resource development. There are 53 industrial enterprises above designated scale, forming four industrial clusters: mineral resource development, deep processing of agricultural products, equipment manufacturing, and new energy and new materials. At the Fourth Plenary Session of the 15th Shulan Municipal Committee, it was proposed to accurately grasp the strategic task of promoting high-quality development, carry out the Breakthrough Year Action for industrial transformation, accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, and create a "3+4" industrial system. 3 "means focusing on improving the industrialization and chain development level of the three landmark industries of white goose, molybdenum, and rice;  The "4" refers to expanding and strengthening the four advantageous industrial clusters of agricultural products and their deep processing, food precision processing, mineral resource development, equipment manufacturing, and new energy and new materials, cultivating large industries, and building large clusters.

2.3 Contact method

Postal Code: 132000

Contact: Miao Yuhang

Tel: +86-432-68200065   

    +86-15143985789

E-mail: slsjhzx@163.com

Contact information of the city (state) where the project is located:

Contact unit: Investment Promotion Service Center of Jilin Municipal Bureau of Commerce

Contact: Jiang Yuxiu

Tel: +86-432-62049694       

    +86-15804325460

E-mail: jlstzcjfwzx@163.com