On November 6th, the 16th Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum was successfully held in Shanghai as a concurrent event of the 6th China International Import Expo. The forum was hosted by the State Administration for Market Regulation and co-organized by the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, the Development Research Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum. Li Rongjie, Chairman of BBCA Group, attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered a speech.
Li Rongjie, Chairman of BBCA Group, delivered a speech
Back in 2017, President Xi Jinping pointed out at the Central Rural Work Conference the importance of deriving energy and protein from fields, grasslands, forests, oceans, plants, animals, and microorganisms and developing food resources in an all-encompassing, multi-faceted manner. He emphasized the shift in the public’s diet from ‘having enough to eat’ to ‘eating well’ and then to ‘eating healthily,’ advocating the development of ecological, low-carbon agriculture.
On January 16, 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the ‘Opinions on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution,’ requiring the prohibition and restriction of certain plastic products’ production, sale, and use in some areas and fields by the end of 2020. By the end of 2022, the consumption of disposable plastic products significantly decreased, and alternative products were promoted. Subsequently, provinces and municipalities across China issued orders to limit and ban plastics, providing a significant market capacity for degradable materials as substitute products.
On May 10, 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the ‘14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Bioeconomy,’ proposing to promote the integration of biotechnology and information technology and prioritize the development of five major industries: bio-breeding, bio-agriculture, bio-manufacturing, bio-pharmaceuticals, and bio-safety, thereby strengthening the bioeconomy.
On January 23, 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments issued a notice on the ‘Three-Year Action Plan for Accelerating the Innovative Development of Non-food Biomaterials,’ guiding the innovative development of biomaterial industries based on non-food biomass such as crop straw and residues, promoting coordinated industrial and agricultural development, and supporting rural revitalization and the construction of a beautiful China.
BBCA Group is a large-scale science and technology industrial company engaged in biochemical, biopharmaceutical, biomaterial, and bioenergy fields, recognized as a national innovative high-tech enterprise. It has established two national R&D platforms: the National Engineering Research Center for Fermentation Technology and the National Pharmaceutical R&D Enterprise Technology Center. It also has 11 provincial R&D platforms, such as the Anhui Provincial Technology Innovation Center for Biodegradable Materials and the Anhui Provincial Industry Innovation Center for Bio-based Polymer Materials. The company has undertaken numerous national and provincial scientific and technological projects, obtaining over 500 authorized invention patents and more than 170 major process technology invention patents. The company employs about 11,000 people. In 2022, its annual revenue was about 16 billion yuan, with an import and export total of about 700 million US dollars, contributing about 920 million yuan in taxes.
Over more than two decades of independent technological innovation, BBCA Group has fully mastered core technologies and proprietary equipment manufacturing techniques across the entire industry chain, including lactobacillus strain selection, fermentation control, separation and purification, polymerization reaction, and downstream application development of polylactic acid. Particularly in the area of raw material substitution (using straw instead of food crops), the group has successfully developed proprietary technologies for enzymatic preparation of cellulose conversion sugar, mixed sugar (hexose and pentose) fermentation to produce lactic acid (comprehensive cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis rate ≥90%, mixed sugar fermentation lactic acid conversion rate ≥90%, leading international level), as well as equipment for producing straw sugar, mixed sugar fermentation lactic acid, polylactic acid, and bioethanol and bio-aviation fuel using alcohol yeast.
Straw sugar will replace food starch sugar as the main raw material for manufacturing biobased products. BBCA Group’s independent innovations in cellulase enzyme preparation technology (30% higher than traditional cellulose conversion sugar hydrolysis rate) and fermentation technology (uniquely domesticated strains can metabolize mixed sugars of pentose and hexose, which are not metabolized in nature) are termed ‘biological chips.’ Owning these ‘biological chips’ allows BBCA Group to deeply process straw, enhancing its value and transforming it from waste into a new material resource, providing an effective approach to realizing rural revitalization, green and low-carbon development, and agricultural power, propelling China's biomanufacturing economy to leapfrog development.
Currently, BBCA Group’s annual 15,000-ton straw sugar co-produced with humic acid organic fertilizer industrial demonstration plant is operational, fully utilizing straw resources for high-value applications. The mixed sugar produced is used to manufacture biomaterials and bioenergy, substituting fossil resources, and can produce straw plastics, fabrics, paints, coatings, leather, and other myriad items, essentially creating energy and materials, and anything from straw except steel, cement, and minerals. The humic acid produced as a byproduct of straw sugar is a miraculous green and efficient plant-based organic fertilizer, more sustainable than mineral-source humic acid. It revolutionizes perceptions of fertilizers, acting as fertilizer when used with chemical and organic fertilizers, and as a plant growth agent, stimulant, soil improver, and nutrient when used independently. It increases soil microbial populations, enhances nutrient content in the soil layer, reduces nutrient outflow, promotes root, stem, and branch absorption in crops, enhances plant stress resistance, and improves fruit and vegetable yield and quality (preserving original taste and flavor). Humic acid can also be used as a food and feed additive, enhancing functionality. A green industry from a single straw changes the earth’s ecology and promotes China’s sustainable economic development.
With the high-quality development of the bioeconomy, biomass resources will gradually replace fossil resources, and the development of non-food biomaterials, bioenergy, and biofertilizers can solve the "competing with humans for food" crisis, effectively ensuring food security, alleviating energy shortages, and resolving environmental pollution. This approach is a crucial lever for achieving green and low-carbon development, ecological civilization, and sustainable high-quality development.
BBCA Group’s straw co-produced humic acid organic fertilizer technology, with straw purchase prices ranging from 500-600 yuan/ton and humic acid prices (no less than 35% humic acid content and no less than 20% fulvic acid content) at 2500-3000 yuan/ton, makes the cost of straw-mixed sugar about 2500-3000 yuan/ton, about 1500 yuan/ton lower than corn glucose, with no wastewater discharge. Using straw-mixed sugar as a raw material, the production cost of bioethanol does not exceed 6500 yuan/ton, and lactic acid does not exceed 7000 yuan/ton, demonstrating strong market competitiveness and promotional potential. This is conducive to the government's introduction of industry policies, supporting the development of biomaterials, bioenergy, and biochemical industries, building a biomaterial content certification and labeling system, and a full-process carbon footprint traceability system, expanding the scope of banned and restricted plastic products, and strengthening market supervision and testing measures to promote the rapid development of the green and low-carbon industry.
Due to the overuse of chemical fertilizers on China’s farmland, soil organic matter and nutrient content have continuously declined, affecting crop yield and quality. However, BBCA Group’s straw sugar byproduct, high-efficiency humic acid organic fertilizer, can be fully returned to the fields, transforming farmland into good land, and cultivating high-quality Chinese grains. This truly embodies President Xi Jinping’s important exposition in ‘On the ‘Three Rural’ Work,’ proposing to let the people ‘have enough to eat, eat well, and eat with peace of mind.’ Thank you, everyone!
The theme of the forum is, ‘Deepening the Belt and Road Cooperation in Agriculture and Food: Jointly Creating a Better Life for Humanity.’ Leaders from the State Administration for Market Regulation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Health Commission, General Administration of Customs, as well as leaders from Shanghai, Henan, Hainan, and other provincial governments, representatives of provincial market supervision departments, representatives of relevant United Nations organizations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and embassies of South Africa, the Netherlands, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Bulgaria, Tanzania, Senegal, among others, along with over 400 delegates from domestic and international enterprises, participated in the forum. Guests collectively deliberated on agricultural cooperation and food industry development, contributing insights and strategies for the high-quality development of agriculture and food industries in the Belt and Road Initiative, highlighting the role of the forum as a platform for policy interpretation.
2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative and the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum. Over the past decade, the forum has been successfully held for 15 sessions within the framework of the National Food Safety Publicity Week and the China International Import Expo. The forum has solidly promoted high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road, extensively conducted exchanges and cooperation in the agricultural and food industries, played a significant role in the development and safety of agricultural food industries in the countries along the route, and facilitated smooth international trade among the Belt and Road countries.
