Stories of High-Quality Development | 'New granary' thrives on saline-alkaline land

Narrator: Yang Jigun, Saltwater Rice Breeding Expert at the Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen (AGIS) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Chairman of Sino-Agri Saltwater Rice (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.

The comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land is a worldwide challenge. In the spring of 2018, I flew over 5,000 kilometers from Shenzhen to Kashi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. What I saw was a vast white expanse of saline-alkali land where nothing could grow. When we tested the soil, its salt content was 3.9 percent—saltier than seawater—indicating severe saline-alkali conditions. The locals shook their heads, saying their ancestors for generations hadn't been able to grow crops here, questioning whether we could succeed.

The saltwater rice we brought here can not only grow in saline-alkali land but also detoxify the soil. From a single mu of experimental land to a 10,000-mu demonstration base, we increased the yield from 450 kilograms per mu to 853 kilograms per mu.

The commercialization of scientific and technological achievements faces countless challenges. Money is needed to expand cultivation and build factories, and conducting scientific research requires even more funding. Yet as a tech startup, we had no factories or equipment to use as collateral, making it extremely difficult to get loans approved.

At the critical moment, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) provided timely financial support. It evaluated enterprises based on dimensions such as patent value, R&D investment ratio, and the strength of talent teams. Credit limits were attached to innovation scores. Its Shenzhen and Xinjiang branches, working together, extended over 20 million yuan in inclusive loans over the past three years in total.

The deep integration of technology, finance, and industry is accelerating. Following the success of saltwater rice, we've grown high-quality, salt-alkali-tolerant wheat, corn, and soybeans. China's 500 million mu of developable saline-alkali land represents our future new granary.