The vineyard area at Jiuding Manor in Laixi City. Photo by Wei Kang (CE Vision)

The first batch of Australian Blue Lobster fry released in Laixi City. Photo by Wei Kang (CE Vision)

In midsummer, the fields and breeding bases of Laixi City in Shandong Province are bustling with activity. High-end aquatic species like willow leaf bream, Australian blue lobster, Murray cod, and salmon are finding new homes here. Specialty agricultural products such as morel mushrooms, 'Xin Gao' pears, and Laixi peanuts have been successively included in the national catalog of famous, special, and new agricultural products. A number of high-quality, distinct local products are moving from the countryside to the vast market.

Laixi City is focusing on enriching industrial forms, extending industry chains, and shaping brand images. It is deeply developing local resources and guiding the development of specialty agriculture towards uniqueness, differentiation, and premiumization. This effort aims to continuously strengthen the cluster of specialty agricultural industries, promoting agricultural efficiency, increasing farmers' income, and enhancing rural vitality.

Breaking New Ground with Specialties

"Pour slowly, slowly... okay, release!" With the summer water warming, at the lobster breeding base in Longquanhu New Village, Hetoudian Town, tens of thousands of Australian Blue Lobster fry leaped into the clear water. This marks the first successful introduction of this specialty aquaculture species to Laixi. Simultaneously, in the Jiangshan Wetland in southern Laixi, the first batch of 50,000 high-quality willow leaf bream fry, 'Taiyu No. 1', was released into the standardized waters of the Common Prosperity Aquaculture Demonstration Base.

Sun Xudong, Director of the Laixi Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, explained that the release of high-end fish and shrimp fry in the southern Jiangshan Wetland and the northern waters around Longquan Lake signifies the addition of new premium categories to Laixi's specialty aquaculture industry. Building on traditional advantageous products like red-heart carrots, Malianzhuang melons, and Wazhuang pears, models such as "raising southern crabs in the north" and "raising southern shrimp in the north" are rapidly expanding.

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Center announced the first batch of the 2026 national catalog of famous, special, and new agricultural products. Three products from Laixi—'Laixi Xin Gao Pear', 'Laixi Peanut', and 'Laixi Morel Mushroom'—were officially included. This brings the city's total number of nationally recognized famous, special, and new agricultural products to 27.

"Rural specialty industries are a powerful lever for revitalizing the countryside, with a very prominent pulling effect on industrial upgrading and farmer prosperity," said Chi Zongxing, Deputy Director of the Organization Department of the Laixi Municipal Party Committee. "As the birthplace of the 'Laixi Experience', Laixi has a tradition of daring to be first. We must firmly seize this opportunity for strong village common prosperity."

Laixi is exploring new development paths for its "native specialties" by employing youthful and market-oriented communication methods. Sun Xudong introduced: "Laixi City has established a municipal-level special task force for rural characteristic industries. It investigates and plans the direction of specialty industries village by village and town by town. Relying on local natural conditions, it actively revitalizes idle resources such as marginal plots, abandoned ponds, and mining pits, developing them appropriately for agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, or forestry. The focus is on creating 'one-of-a-kind' agricultural products, deeply tapping the potential of 'local' resources, amplifying the advantages of 'specialty', and expanding the scale of 'production'."

Looking at Laixi today, fresh fruits like long mulberries hang heavy on branches, pecan trees flourish, white camellias grow quietly in green tea gardens, and morel mycelium awaits deep separation... The strategy of "one village, one product" and "one town, one industry" connects these pearls into a chain, dotting the vast fields with specialty industries and painting a vibrant picture of rural industrial revitalization.

Extending the Industrial Chain

Rural industries must not only be introduced but also sustained. Extending and broadening the agricultural product industry chain and promoting the integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas are effective means to accelerate agricultural efficiency and increase farmers' income.

In the morel mushroom cultivation base in Xixiagezhuang Village, Xiagezhuang Town, village Party Secretary Ge Haoshun squats by the mushroom bed with a flashlight, gently brushing his fingers over a patch of morel primordia resembling fish roe. "This year is another bumper harvest. The fresh morels have all been harvested, the dried ones are in high demand, and we must quickly start planning the cultivation of the next season's spawn!"

It is this "little mushroom" that transformed Xixiagezhuang Village from a formerly weak "four-no" village into a model for common prosperity. Particularly notable is the intercropping model of grapes and morel mushrooms. In the past, the grapevines lay idle in winter, creating an income gap for villagers. Now, with intercropping, the land yields produce year-round. The growth cycle of morels alternates with that of grapes, and the spent mushroom substrate is returned to the field, providing nutrients for the grapevines. This maintains soil fertility while balancing ecological and economic benefits. "Grapes sweet on the trellis, mushrooms fresh beneath it"—this innovative approach allows for greater land output and continuous ecological optimization.

Ge Haoshun explained that besides pure morel cultivation, the village is gradually extending upstream and downstream. Upstream efforts focus on developing morel spawn and cultivation nutrient packs, while downstream initiatives include launching a series of products like morel mushroom noodles, various biscuits, mushroom sauce, and soup packs. This builds a full-chain development model covering "breeding, planting, management, harvesting, storage, transportation, and sales." Thanks to this "little mushroom," the collective annual income of Xixiagezhuang Village now exceeds 1.5 million yuan.

Meanwhile, the grapes from Xujiatun in Yuanshang Town, with their excellent quality and advantage of early market entry, are gradually becoming "golden fruits" for increasing local farmers' income. Grower Xu Yuanhao said: "Our village's climate and soil are uniquely favorable. The grapes we grow have plump berries and high sugar content, selling for over 30 yuan per jin at peak. Three greenhouses can bring in about 300,000 yuan a year." In industrial parks like Jiuding Manor and Guipu Winery, the local area has also developed 1,000 mu (about 67 hectares) of wine grapes, producing over 500 tons annually.

Guan Dan, Propaganda Committee Member of Yuanshang Town, introduced that the local area integrates cultural creativity into the entire industry chain around the theme of grapes and wine. It offers tourism experience projects like grape picking, wine brewing, and outdoor barbecues, creating diverse leisure scenarios for tourists. This builds an integrated development industrial chain of "planting—brewing—cultural tourism," driving collective village and public income increases of over 2 million yuan.

From a simple grape-growing area in the past to an influential wine tasting destination within the industry today; from a regional sales distribution center to a popular "internet-famous check-in spot"—the upgrade of the entire grape industry chain vividly illustrates Laixi's approach to promoting the integrated development of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries based on its specialty sectors.

Laixi City is promoting the extension of agricultural products from "raw materials" to deep processing, moving from single planting to "connected" integrated development. Centered on the four leading advantageous industries of grain and oil, fruits, vegetables, and livestock, it has formed six characteristic processing industry chains for vegetables, fruits, milk, broiler chickens, pork, and peanuts, transforming primary agricultural products into high-value-added commodities.

Poultry meat products are exported to the EU, the Middle East, South Korea, Japan, among others, with annual chicken exports accounting for a quarter of China's total exports to Japan and the EU. The city has 168 dairy cow farming households, 141 large-scale breeding farms, and 3 fresh milk processing enterprises, producing approximately 530 tons of fresh milk daily. The agglomeration effect of leading enterprises like Yipin Dairy, Aize Fuji, and Kaisheng Haofeng is increasingly strong. The scope of agricultural product processing continues to widen, and the industrial system is becoming more complete. To date, Laixi City has 64 municipal-level or higher agricultural industrialization leading enterprises in Qingdao, including 4 at the national level.

Brand Breakthrough

"Laixi has many high-quality agricultural products, but in the past, they operated independently. While they gained some fame, it was limited to surrounding areas and didn't form brand premium," said Wang Yida, General Manager of Laixi Youpin Brand Management Co., Ltd., who has a deep understanding of the dilemma where "good wine fears a deep alley."

To solve the problems of agricultural products being numerous but not strong, large but not excellent, and having brands that exist but lack recognition, Laixi City proposed overall packaging and promotion. It integrates numerous high-quality agricultural products to create a regional public brand—"Laixi Youpin" (Laixi Premium Products). Through policies like unifying selection standards, strictly controlling included products, and increasing promotion efforts, it empowers regional agricultural product brand building, promoting development towards branding, refinement, and scale.

Currently, "Laixi Youpin" has been established in venues such as hotels, communities, and central business districts in Qingdao, with 2 offline brand franchise stores and over 10 display and sales outlets. Sales of various product categories continue to grow, and brand awareness is gradually increasing. The brand covers over 200 types of "native specialties" across eight major categories. It has cultivated 226 products with "Three Products, One Standard" certification, as well as 24 nationally recognized famous, special, and new agricultural products like Malianzhuang melons and Wangjiazhuang nectarine, achieving simultaneous growth in brand value and farmer income.

After establishing the brand, the sales model also needs a breakthrough. Chi Zongxing said frankly: "Laixi has many good products, but there is often a disconnect between production and sales. Middlemen depress prices, and there are too many circulation links, so farmers earn limited income after a year of hard work. Having village Party secretaries lead live-streaming sales not only provides credible trust but also enables direct shipping from the origin with affordable prices. Why not do it?"

Relying on live-streaming e-commerce platforms, Laixi City fully leverages the "leading goose" effect of village Party secretaries. It has formulated the "Three-Year Action Plan for Developing Village Secretary Live-Streaming Sales Economy with 'Party Building Guidance, Leading Geese Leading the Way'" and supporting management and incentive measures. It vigorously cultivates main forces for live-streaming such as e-commerce leading enterprises, new-type professional farmers, and village Party secretaries, promoting the conversion of online traffic into actual increases in agricultural product sales and cultural tourism consumption through "village broadcasts."

How can "Laixi Youpin" stand out among the sea of live-streaming rooms? Laixi's solution is implementing a village broadcast model of "multiple entities + differentiated expression." The "internet-famous secretary" from Wangcheng Subdistrict, Shi Dafa, speaks in local dialect while demonstrating in a melon greenhouse and sharing "melon-growing secrets": "The melons grown in our sandy loam soil have a sugar content exceeding 16 degrees. They are sweet but not cloying, refreshing and delicious."

Today, more and more "down-to-earth" local "product-selling secretaries" are emerging in Laixi City. Ge Haoshun, who promoted morel mushrooms to the "cloud" by founding an OPC enterprise, is affectionately called the "Morel Mushroom Secretary." The "Grape Secretary" Zhang Jiyu from Xiangu New Village, Yuanshang Town, lets the sweetness of Shine Muscat grapes reach all corners of the country through live streams. The "Potato Secretary" Zhang Hao from Qianshuikou Natural Village, Dianbu Town, squats in the fields, promoting potatoes, carrots, and other agricultural products with mud-stained hands. The "Sweet Potato Secretary" Liu Xiangzhi from Jianxin Natural Village, Nanxia Town, holds freshly baked sweet potatoes, telling industry stories in plain dialect...

Laixi City is focusing on the "special" character, making "production" the key, and taking "brand" as the core, allowing one "small specialty" after another to grow into "big industries" that enrich the people and increase income.