In the depths of winter, the cold is intense on the southern edge of the Loess Plateau, yet the premises of Yijun County Chengxin Fruit Industry Development Co., Ltd. are a scene of bustling activity. Dozens of workers gather around sorting tables, grading and boxing brightly colored apples by size and quality, the air filled with the fresh fragrance of the fruit. Accompanied by the roar of an engine, a truck bearing a banner that reads "Jiangsu-Shaanxi Cooperation: Yijun Apples Enter Dafeng" slowly drives out of the factory yard, its cargo hold fully loaded with Yijun apples racing towards Dafeng District, Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, over a thousand miles away—this is a vivid snapshot of Feng-Yi collaborative consumption assistance and a fruitful result of the two regions joining hands in industry.
"Before, growing apples relied entirely on old experience, and they couldn't fetch a good price; what was even more worrying was having no place to store them. As soon as the apples ripened, we had to sell them off in a rush. If the market was bad, even good fruit had to be sold cheaply," said Yao Mingqiang, head of Yijun County Chengxin Fruit Industry Development Co., Ltd., pointing to the controlled atmosphere storage facility beside him. "Thanks to Dafeng District's supporting assistance funds of 1 million yuan, we were able to build this CA storage. Now, high-quality apples can be sold off-peak, and the price has doubled compared to during the peak harvest season."
After the CA storage facility became operational, it not only stabilized the quality and price of the apples but also created employment opportunities for local fruit growers right at their doorstep. Workers can now steadily earn around 200 yuan per day, making life increasingly promising. Meanwhile, at the apple trading market in Yaosheng Town near the factory, newly built sheds have allowed fruit growers and merchants to completely告别 the days of "trading at the mercy of the weather," enabling them to negotiate and place orders regardless of wind or rain.
As a benchmark enterprise in Feng-Yi industrial cooperation, the transformation of Yijun County Chengxin Fruit Industry Development Co., Ltd. is inseparable from the precise empowerment from Dafeng District. Leveraging Jiangsu-Shaanxi Cooperation special funds, the company innovatively established a "company + cooperative +脱贫households" assistance mechanism, injecting 790,000 yuan in industrial capital shares for 62 households that had been lifted out of poverty and allocating 160,000 yuan in development funds to 4 village collectives. Through off-season sales, it achieved annual dividends exceeding 600,000 yuan. Addressing the pain points of weak planting techniques and shortages of agricultural supplies among fruit growers, the Dafeng assistance team acted as a bridge, organizing experts from both regions to provide agricultural skills training and promoting a "1+1+2" targeted assistance model. This involves one annual household technical guidance visit, one batch of free agricultural supplies, and a guaranteed purchase of apples at a price 0.2 yuan per jin higher than the market rate. Last year, the company was successfully selected for the second batch of Jiangsu-Shaanxi Cooperation Agricultural Product Bases and even established a branch in Dafeng District, allowing Yijun apples to directly access high-end markets in the east.
If apples are the "sweet fruit" borne from Feng-Yi cooperation, then walnuts are the "prescription for prosperity" the two regions have jointly pioneered. In the live-streaming room of Yijun County Quanfeng Agriculture and Forestry Technology Development Co., Ltd., the person in charge, Cao Taifeng, is enthusiastically promoting Yijun roasted walnuts to netizens: "Everyone, take a look! This is a specialty from our Loess Plateau—thin-skinned, plump-meated, fragrant, crisp, and delicious!" His熟练patter and composed explanation make it hard to imagine he was once a "novice" who stammered nervously in front of the camera.
"In 2018, Dafeng District specifically sent internet influencers to teach me live-streaming sales hands-on, and they also helped me refine product selling points and design直播scripts," said Cao Taifeng. He stated that it was precisely Dafeng District's targeted assistance that helped his cooperative find a new path for transformation and upgrading.
Relying on 1.2 million yuan in Jiangsu-Shaanxi Cooperation special funds injected by Dafeng District, Yijun County Quanfeng Agriculture and Forestry Technology Development Co., Ltd. built a primary walnut processing area, a green walnut hulling production line, and cold storage facilities, launching a new roasted walnut product that successfully broke the困局of a single product line. With the help of the Dafeng assistance team acting as a matchmaker, the company established a branch in Dafeng District in 2022, reducing intermediate handling links and allowing Yijun walnuts to be sold directly from the deep mountains to thousands of households in the Yangtze River Delta. Today, the company's online platforms, including its Taobao store "Yijun Quanfeng Store" and Douyin shop, generate annual sales exceeding 2 million yuan. Its "one share, three linkages" assistance model benefits numerous households. In 2025, the company distributed dividends totaling 47,500 yuan to two village collective economic joint associations and 51 households lifted out of poverty, truly achieving a win-win situation for the village collectives, the households, and the enterprise.
The apples and walnuts of Yijun County once faced the困境of "good products but poor prices" due to "having products but no standards, having特色but no brand, having quality but no channels." Leveraging its locational advantage in eastern markets, mature commercial networks, and advanced marketing concepts, Dafeng District abandoned the old path of "输血-type" procurement. Instead, it joined hands with Yijun County to launch the "Feng-Yi Premium Selection" consumption express, adopting a three-step strategy of "improving quality, creating brands, and expanding channels" to build a full-chain assistance system from production to consumption. From the construction of CA storage facilities to e-commerce skills training, from brand cultivation to market对接, Dafeng's assistance runs through the entire industrial development process. Driven by the joint efforts of the two regions, "Yijun Apple" and "Yijun Walnut" successfully obtained national geographical indication certification trademarks. In 2024, sales of Yijun's special agricultural products in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region reached over 40 million yuan, with total annual sales exceeding 50 million yuan.
From the Loess Plateau to the shores of the Yellow Sea, the distantly separated Dafeng District and Yijun County are connected by cooperation. This profound friendship跨越mountains and seas has not only turned Yijun's "local specialties" into "hot commodities" but also allowed the people of both regions to share in the fruits of development. It provides a replicable and scalable "Feng-Yi model" for East-West cooperation, injecting strong momentum into regional coordinated development and common prosperity in the new era.
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