Fujian county sweet on potato biz

By building a vibrant e-commerce ecosystem and integrating digital tools across production, sales and branding, Liancheng county in Fujian province's Longyan has transformed its traditional sweet potato industry into a modern growth engine.

With year-end consumption peaking, food producers in Liancheng are operating at full capacity. "This is our busiest sales season," said Shen Zhiwei, sales director at Fujian Jingxing Food Co Ltd. Shen said sales during the Double 11 and Double 12 shopping festivals usually hit their yearly highs and the company's products are now sold across China and exported to Vietnam, Thailand and elsewhere, with annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan ($14.2 million).

Boasting more than 300 years of history in processing dried red-fleshed sweet potatoes, Liancheng is now home to 54 sweet potato processing enterprises, including 29 above-designated-size companies.