Hailing from the fertile lands of the Jianghuai region to dining tables worldwide, Yangzhou's signature products like Baoying lotus roots, Gaoyou prawns, and Yizheng blackberries are crossing oceans and reaching international markets, serving as a vibrant emblem of the city's openness. In recent years, Yangzhou has deepened its "512" modern agricultural industry system, continuously cultivating specialty supply chains, allowing its high-quality geographical indication products to go global thanks to their unique quality and authentic flavors. In the first half of this year, Yangzhou's agricultural product exports reached 681 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.45%. Based on the current pace of industry development and enterprise overseas expansion, the city's total agricultural exports are expected to exceed 1 billion yuan within three years.
At the mushroom cultivation base of Yangzhou Aojite Biotechnology Co., Ltd., rows of aluminum alloy mushroom beds are neatly arranged. Steak mushrooms with plump caps are sprouting from the soil, as workers busily pick, basket, and pack them. This batch of steak mushrooms, worth about 30,000 yuan, is set to be shipped overseas, marking the company's 10th export of fresh edible mushrooms this year. Aojite's head, Ding Xijun, stated, "In 2025, we have cumulatively exported 82.34 tons of mushrooms and related products, a year-on-year increase of 19.5%."
Carrying the essence of the Jianghuai region, Yangzhou's agricultural products are leveraging the Belt and Road Initiative, China-Europe freight trains, and air cold chains to achieve a diversified export layout across multiple categories and regions, earning a solid reputation in the international market. In the aquatic sector, Gaoyou prawns, supported by refined farming and cross-border cold chain systems, are rapidly reaching mainstream markets in Southeast Asia. This year, Yangzhou achieved a breakthrough by exporting live yellow catfish to South Korea for the first time in bulk. Deep-processed products like cooked shrimp tails and flavored crab products are consistently exported to countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In the specialty fruit, vegetable, and prepared food segment, Baoying lotus roots have formed a full-chain export matrix. Leading enterprises including He Xian Foods, Tiancheng Foods, Yu Lian Fang, and Jin Lv Wei focus on deep processing of lotus roots, exporting standardized products like lotus slices, lotus root powder, and prepared lotus root dishes to dozens of countries and regions. Yizheng blackberries, in fresh, dried, and beverage forms, continue to expand their overseas markets thanks to their excellent quality. In the specialty ingredients field, traditional products like Gaoyou salted duck eggs and wind-dried goose are steadily broadening their export channels. Yangzhou's signature quick-frozen pastries are consistently exported and remain among the top-selling Chinese prepared foods overseas.
"Behind the steady industrial expansion is the continuous cultivation and growth of high-quality export entities. Yangzhou has formed a well-structured and dynamic agricultural foreign trade enterprise echelon, effectively driving stable growth in agricultural trade," said a representative from the Yangzhou Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. In 2025, Yangzhou's agricultural product exports reached 135,300 tons, valued at 975 million yuan, representing year-on-year increases of 11.96% and 12.2%, respectively, leading the province in growth. In the first half of this year, the city's agricultural exports hit 681 million yuan, up 14.45% year-on-year.
To better introduce Yangzhou's agricultural products to the world, the city will be guided by the main brand "Shi Mei Wei Yang" (Food Delights of Yangzhou), pursuing a path of branding, standardization, and internationalization, so that Yangzhou's fine products are seen, remembered, and loved globally. The agriculture bureau official explained that the strategy involves using brand building to tell the story of Jianghuai water village farming, focusing on strengthening four major regional public brands: Baoying lotus root, Gaoyou prawns, Gaoyou salted duck eggs, and Lvyangchun tea. This includes unifying the visual IP image, standardizing brand management authorization, and establishing a full-chain traceability system to make "Made in Yangzhou" a hallmark of green, high-quality, safe, and authentic products. Standard norms will be used to smooth cross-border channels by accelerating the acquisition of internationally recognized certifications and continuously improving cross-border cold chain storage and full-process digital traceability facilities to preserve the local essence of lotus root tenderness, prawn freshness, egg fragrance, and tea richness. Products will be adapted to fit overseas consumption habits by introducing lightweight, portable small packaging, standardized bilingual product descriptions, and developing high-repurchase new items like ready-to-eat lotus root products, instant prawn and crab prepared dishes, bagged green tea, and snack-style egg products. Finally, cultural empowerment will deepen engagement in overseas consumer markets, with the canal farming and Huaiyang food culture as core carriers, regularly hosting overseas agricultural product tasting events, water village farming culture experiences, and production-marketing matchmaking activities, allowing more Yangzhou flavors to set sail and spread their aroma worldwide.
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