The sunflower industry is on a track to becoming the second-largest agricultural industry in Gansu thanks to the efforts of Gansu Joy.

Officials attend a foundation ceremony for the Gansu Sunflower Industrial Park in August 2012. It is scheduled to become operational in September.

The Gansu Joy Agricultural Technology Co uses state-of-the-art science and technology to produce its Westerner sunflower oil.

And fuel growing market for healthier cooking oil

On July 22, the Incredible China Photographer's Tour will arrive in Minqin, a small little-known county in Gansu province that has sprawling fields of radiant sunflowers.

Major Asian media outlets will join the tour to record the natural extravaganza, including those from The Nation in Thailand, The Korea Herald from the Republic of Korea, The Star Publications and Sin Chew Daily from Malaysia, The Straits Times from Singapore, The Kathmandu Post from Nepal, The Statesman from India, The Philippine Daily Inquirer and Gulf News from the United Arab Emirates.

The tour is co-organized by China Daily and Gansu Joy Agricultural Technology Co, which manages the sunflower fields and produces Westerner-brand sunflower oil.

Located at 38 degrees north latitude - called the golden line for planting - Minqin county has a sunny climate ideal for growing sunflowers.

Gansu Joy now cultivates 16,666 hectares of sunflowers in Minqin and is preparing a new plantation and processing facility in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province and it is expected to put into service this September.

With total investment of 1.87 billion yuan ($306 million), the new site in Lanzhou will be ready in September. It is projected to produce 50,000 tons of high-end cooking sunflower oil and 77,000 tons of sunflower protein products annually.

Healthy oil

Sunflower oil contains abundant linoleic acid that helps lower blood pressure, moderate cholesterol levels and is good for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health.

Today coronary heart disease, stroke, cerebral thrombosis, arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure are on the increase, but using appropriate oil can help, said Cao Wanxin, a professor from the Xi'an Oil Science Research Institute.

According to industry data, sunflower oil now ranks third among all vegetable oils in consumption worldwide. In Eastern Europe, sunflower oil is second only to soybean oil. In Japan and the ROK, sunflower oil is widely used as a high-end product. In Japan it is often presented as a gift.

Use of sunflower oil is increasing in China as well. It is estimated that in 2015 its consumption will reach 650,000 tons, accounting 2 percent of the nation's total cooking oil.

If the proportion can be increased to 5 percent, it will mean a great opportunity for the industry, analysts said. They noted that today consumers choose cooking oil not only according to standards for safety and hygiene, but also its nutrition and health.

The increasing awareness of health among domestic consumers in large part fuels the rise in use of sunflower oil, they said.

According to Gansu Joy, sunflower oil is smokeless at high temperature and is a good choice for frying foods or baking. It is easily absorbed by the human body and has pleasant fragrance, the company said.

In addition to its effects in improving cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health, sunflower oil may also help improve one's complexion because it is rich in vitamin E, the company said.

High-end market

The premium cooking oil market in China is now dominated by foreign companies, especially Spanish and Italian olive oil producers. Imported from their places of origin abroad, the oil is usually packed in small bottles and sold at high prices.

Analysts said that China's high-end cooking oil market has large potential and it is possible for more domestic brands to sell their own superior products to compete with foreign counterparts.

They also noted that government policy also encourages domestic companies to develop quality cooking oil.

In the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) for the food industry, the government has called for companies to produce more diverse products than traditional soybean oil.

Gansu Joy is expanding sales of its Westerner-brand sunflower oil beyond the province with sales channels in the nearby provinces of Shaanxi, Qinghai, Sichuan, and the Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions, as well as big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and prosperous eastern provinces including Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

It has also expanded into overseas markets such as Japan.

Currently Westerner brand is the only homegrown sunflower oil product to receive the certification of "green, organic food" from the Ministry of Agriculture. It has also been granted the status as a "famous trademark of Gansu."

The company said it adheres to the goal of pursuing the best quality through strict quality controls of every link along the production chain, starting from the selection of seeds to planting and processing. It said that only high quality will enable the company to gain a foothold in the market as consumer are more aware of food safety.

More products

With intensive investment in research and development, the company plans to develop more sunflower-related products in the future.

The Gansu Sunflower Association started by the company now has 31 members including Lanzhou University, Lanzhou University of Technology, Gansu Agricultural University and the Gansu Academy of Agricultural Science.

In cooperation with academic partners, the company has to date developed 11 sunflower oil products and owns the intellectual property in a sunflower protein convenience food.

With help from the China Association for Science and Technology, the company also established an exchange center on technology and plans to invite experts and professionals from both home and abroad to jointly work on improvements in the sunflower industry.

The company said that the sunflower has many benefits. Its seed can be made into oil, while its flowers, leave, stem, pith and root can all be used in traditional medicine. Its petal and leaves can strengthen the stomach and aid digestion, its pith can be made into diuretic drug and other parts are effective in reducing blood pressure.

In addition, growing sunflowers is a good choice both ecologically and economically in the western regions in China because it changes the desert into oasis and helps local residents in the quest to rise from poverty.