From October 20 to 22, by the banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River, the 2026 Sustainable Global Leaders Conference will return once again. Nobel Prize and Turing Award winners will take the stage to discuss the future and trends of technology, and the internet-famous professor who "rescues" people from anxiety and the era of involution — Macfarlane and Xiang Biao — will hold a live dialogue!
Limited seats available, first come first served. Let us journey together toward the sustainability commitment! [Click to Register] Source: Jimu News. Jimu News reporter Liu Junhua, Hubei Daily all-media reporters Wen Kai and Xia Xiaojun, correspondent Li Caiyun, poster production by Chen Min.
On October 14, on the hillside of Taiping Village, Lianghekou Town, Zigui County, Hubei Province — the first county at the head of the Three Gorges Reservoir — drones were shuttling back and forth transporting baskets of golden Zigui autumn oranges. Zhou Gongquan's family's 170 mu of Zigui autumn oranges boarded "special flights" out of the mountains. Zhou Gongquan said that an estimated 300,000 jin of autumn oranges will hit the market this year, with an average price of 1.3 to 1.7 yuan per jin, generating income of approximately 450,000 yuan.
Orchard workers use drones to hoist and transport freshly picked Zigui autumn oranges. In Zigui, fresh orange supply is no longer a "seasonal limited edition" — not only are fresh oranges available year-round, but staggered harvesting and differentiated competition have also been achieved. If year-round fresh oranges are a gift of nature, then converting them into market advantages and brand value relies on upgrading the entire industry chain.
How to "squeeze every last drop" out of a single orange and push forward with product research and development — Qugu Agriculture took the lead and has been forging ahead ever since. In 2011, Zigui County's navel orange output was 230,000 tons. By 2025, that figure has exceeded 1 million tons — a fourfold increase in 15 years. One problem must be confronted — nearly 20% of navel oranges do not meet the standard for fresh consumption, and the volume of processing-grade fruit is rising accordingly. How to avoid a bumper harvest without a bumper income, and ensure every navel orange can be "squeezed to the last drop"?
Workers on the concentrated juice production line at Qugu Group (photo by correspondent Zhou Shiwei). Finding direction and capacity in the market. "In the past, we sold whatever we could make; now we make whatever the market demands. Orange juice is expected to become our billion-yuan blockbuster product, equivalent to building another Qugu," said Li Zhenglun, Chairman of Hubei Qugu International Agricultural Group, in an interview. As public quality of life improves, demand for low-sugar, natural organic, and NFC juices continues to climb, and the fruit consumption structure is quietly changing.
Last October, Zigui County's first ten-thousand-ton concentrated orange juice production line officially began operation at Qugu Group. From initial planning and design to equipment selection and installation, and personnel training, Qugu spent nearly two years. "No preservatives or artificial colors added — every drop is pure and authentic," Li Zhenglun introduced. The workshop covers 8,600 square meters, can process over 800 tons of fresh navel oranges per day during peak season, and can absorb 120,000 tons of processing-grade fruit annually. This will triple the group's fresh fruit processing capacity.
Currently, Zigui's navel orange planting area has reached 400,000 mu. With e-commerce continuing to gain momentum, navel oranges are sold far and wide, with a comprehensive output value of nearly 25 billion yuan, serving as a powerful income support for more than 200,000 people. This juice production line with an annual processing capacity of 120,000 tons undoubtedly adds another "bottom line" for the county's navel orange prices.
Orchard workers load sorted Zigui navel oranges onto trucks. What is concentrated is the essence. Facing a massive volume of processing-grade fruit, relying on Qugu alone is not enough. Currently, Zigui is considering introducing incentive measures to encourage enterprises to expand navel orange deep processing and broaden channels for converting substandard and defective fruit into value.
Workers performing orange peel stripping operations in the workshop. In Zigui County's Jiuli Industrial Park, the new juice production line of Yichang Guoledi Food Co., Ltd. also began operation last November. To date, it has produced 3,000 tons of non-concentrated juice and 1,500 tons of concentrated orange juice, absorbing 40,000 tons of processing-grade fruit. "We decided to venture into deep processing after more than three years in fresh fruit, because we benefit from both origin and transportation advantages." Wang Qiong, General Manager of the company who returned to his hometown to start the business in 2020, told reporters that compared with imported orange juice from South America, non-concentrated orange juice is more competitive.
Simply squeezing may seem crude and simple. But orange juice — where "concentration is the essence" — has even more application scenarios. He Xiang explained that orange juice is used as a raw material for fermentation, and Qugu Group has already developed numerous vinegar and liquor products on this basis. At the Qugu Jusong Pavilion, reporters observed that navel orange-flavored distilled spirits, blended liquors, sparkling wines, and brandy occupy nearly half of the ground floor space.
Full utilization from flower to fruit, from peel to residue. In Zigui, this is not the first time the form of navel oranges has been transformed. In 2008, Qugu partnered with Huazhong Agricultural University to form a research team and invested over 14 million yuan in citrus deep processing research. In 2011, the citrus "zero-waste" processing production line was completed and put into operation at Qugu. Orange peel is made into candied orange peel, flesh is made into canned products, and pomace is turned into orange paste and jam for food fillings — achieving full utilization of navel oranges from flower to fruit, from peel to residue.
Workers processing shredded orange peel in the workshop. "Fifteen years ago, we were pulling apart oranges and citrus and kneading them into different products," said He Xiang, Director of Qugu Group's R&D Center. The content of each component is relatively fixed, and once each orange is broken apart, it determines the production volume of each product. He Xiang said that because different products sell at different rates and have different seasonalities, to avoid excessive inventory, processing volume must be determined by "the shortest plank in the barrel."
The concentrated juice production line at Qugu Group in operation (photo by correspondent Zhou Shiwei). Building on "zero waste," the enterprise continues to enhance the value of its products, having developed over 100 high-value-added products including navel orange wine, navel orange vinegar, navel orange tea, and dietary fiber. During this period, Qugu won the first prize of the Hubei Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award twice, the first prize of the Hubei Provincial Technology Invention Award once, and the third prize of the Shennong China Agricultural Science and Technology Award once. Its "citrus peel residue tea and sauce model" has been promoted nationwide.
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