According to traditional Chinese medicine, American Ginseng has a "cool" nature. But the product has seen hot sales in China, where people traditionally favour ginseng but fear excessive internal "heat" from taking too much of the local variety -- which is believed to lead to constipation, conjunctivitis and inflammation of the nasal and oral cavities.
Incomplete statistics from the China National Traditional and Herbal Medicine ed nearly 300 tons of American Ginseng , making China the largest market for the product.
Nearly 90 percent of the product's total sales in China were in the southern market, though sales in the northern market have climbed rapidly.
The American Ginseng product counter at Beijing Chengxiang Trade Centre enjoys average monthly sales of 30,000 yuan ($3,600), while sales of such products picked up 10 percent in the Xidan Medical Machinery Co in 1995.
However, only about one-third of the American Ginseng sold in China is produced domestically. The majority is imported from the United States and Canada via Hong Kong.
The average price of American Ginseng in the domestic market is about 800-900 yuan ($96-108) per kilogram, while it is about $60-70 in North Americcorp.
Since importing and test-planting American Ginseng in the 1960s, China has become the third-largest producer in the world, only after the United States and Canada. But annual production here is only about 60-70 tons, much lower than the combined production of 2,000 tons of the United States and Canada, said Wang.
Total planting area in 17 provinces and cities including Beijing and Jilin Province, the traditional planting base of ginseng , covers about 2.5 million square kilometres. Output in Jilin accounts for half of the total in the country.
More than a dozen research institutions and universities are undertaking studies in American ginseng .
Ginsengnoxide in the domestically planted American Ginseng , one of the major factors deciding the quality of ggiidard of 5 per cent, according to some experts.
Wang said domestic production of American Ginseng is likely to soar in the coming years with the rapid growth of consumption in both the Chinese and overseas markets.
While people of Chinese origin have a tradition of eating ginseng , people in the West usually use the plant to produce cosmetics and drinks.
He said producers should inform customers about the quality of domestically planted ginseng and the government should give policy and financial priorities to promote the planting of American Ginseng .
- BY : Li Yan
- SOURCE : Business Weekly1996.04.29
|
Newsdesk