Economic Watch: How a tiny Chinese town spices up the world

JINAN, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Hidden on the northwest plain of east China's Shandong Province, the quiet town of Yang'an might seem ordinary at first glance, consisting of a patch of land spanning under 90 square kilometers and home to just some 50,000 residents. Yet this small community has carved out a remarkable niche in the global food industry.

Despite being neither a spice-producing hub nor a sizable home market, this tiny town in Laoling, a county-level city, has built a seasoning empire that reaches over 70 countries and regions -- and has captured 40 percent of China's composite spice market.

The rise of Yang'an began on the shoulders of traveling vendors. In the late 1970s, its pioneers roamed about the streets, offering dried chilies and either freshly ground chili powder or five-spice powder. Among their successors is Wang Jianzhou, now general manager of Shandong Huachang Food Co., Ltd., who embodies the second generation of this enduring legacy of craftsmanship and trade.

"My father started out with just a leather bag, a rusty grinder and a simple scale," Wang recalled. What began as a cottage trade has since grown into a full-fledged industrial cluster, with no less than 327 condiment production and processing enterprises now operating in Yang'an, generating more than 30 billion yuan (about 4.23 billion U.S. dollars) in annual sales.

What makes the dominance enjoyed by Yang'an all the more remarkable, is that the town has virtually no local access to the raw materials it depends on. Yet its industry consumes 10 percent of China's chilies, 20 percent of its pepper and 30 percent of its cumin every year.

"We've built a complete industrial chain covering everything from procurement and processing to cold-chain logistics and packaging," said Zhang Lei, vice mayor of Laoling, who also oversees the local food seasoning industry chain. This robust infrastructure has established Yang'an as a renowned distribution hub for seasonings and a deep-processing base for spices. Notably, two-thirds of its residents now work in seasoning-related businesses.

With local authorities streamlining import procedures, organizing overseas exhibitions and helping enterprises expand into new markets, Yang'an has accelerated its path toward internationalization.

For companies like Shandong Pangda Condiment & Food Co., Ltd., the payoff has been clear. "One-third of our revenue now comes from exports to more than 20 countries," said Zhu Junjie, the firm's foreign trade manager.

Growth has brought its own set of challenges. Yang'an's greatest strength, its network of agile producers -- also became its weakness. A lack of unified branding once left local firms exposed.

"We hit a bottleneck," recalled Meng Xianjun, the town's Party secretary. "We had products, but no brand protection." When popular products like an oil-and-vinegar dressing took off, imitators quickly pounced, triggering cutthroat price wars that threatened to erode hard-won gains, he noted.

The solution emerged through collective action -- a unified strategy built around a regional brand. In 2023, the Laoling Yang'an Town Condiment Group Co., Ltd. was established to coordinate shared services such as bulk purchasing and, most importantly, a collective testing laboratory.

For smaller producers who once had to send product samples to distant cities for quality checks -- this facility has been transformative. "In the past, a single test could cost thousands of yuan and take three to four days," Meng said. "Now our shared lab saves each company more than 150,000 yuan a year while tripling efficiency."

The collaborative model has delivered tangible results. Since 2022, Yang'an has added 1,731 new seasoning-related enterprises -- while express delivery volumes have soared from 78 million in the whole of 2022 to 145 million parcels in just the first nine months of 2025. Across China, supermarket shelves now feature products bearing Yang'an's unified logo for condiments in prominent displays -- with the range of available varieties expanding by nearly 30 percent.

Yang'an unveiled its latest innovation this September: A spice digital intelligence trading platform that streamlines transactions such as a recent 800,000-yuan white pepper deal, completed entirely online in just 10 minutes. Leveraging both blockchain technology and SGS quality certifications, the platform addresses long-standing hurdles in traditional spice trading.

"The biggest headache has always been quality disputes in cross-border transactions," said Pang Xuehui, general manager of Shandong Pangda Condiment & Food Co., Ltd. "Now, every batch comes with SGS reports and blockchain-verified tracking data." Pang added that with SGS certification covering 32 key indicators -- the company's products can now smoothly enter markets such as the Middle East.

The digital platform links nine warehouses across China, forming an integrated logistics network that significantly cuts shipping times and costs. It is particularly advantageous for smaller merchants -- who make up 67 percent of the platform's over 300 registered traders, allowing them to compete more effectively in cross-border markets.

"We're not just providing trading tools -- we're building a digital brain for the entire industry," said town official Yang Bo, adding that the approach has enabled businesses that were previously limited by information gaps to compete on an international scale.

From itinerant merchants to digital trading pioneers, Yang'an has spent over four decades perfecting its recipe for success. With ambitions to double industry output to 60 billion yuan within five years, this small town stands as a model for how localized industries can achieve global reach through adaptation, collaboration and technological innovation. ■