The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the Peoples Republic of China (AQSIQ), has given its approval to Qingdao's Pingdu county to establish a national-level demonstration area for protected geographical indication (PGI) products, the first of its kind in Shandong province – with the aim of promoting and protecting names of quality agricultural products.

Dazeshan grapes

Pingdu is trying to improve the quality and competitiveness of its farm produce, and five products - Dazeshan grapes, Majiagou celery, Pantao ginger, Pingdu peanuts and Pingdu beef are covered by the classification of PGI from AQSIQ.

Majiagou celery

Pingdu peanuts

A total of 15 farm products around Pingdu are protected by a classification from the Ministry of Agriculture, and the basic farmland protection areas cover 1.5 miilion mu (100,000 hectares), or 60 percent of the arable land in the county.

Pingdu started the application process to become a national-level demonstration area for PGI products in June 2013, and the local authorities aim to standardize and upgrade the quality of the area's products. In addition, they are now creating a supervision system and launching a special logo. AQSIQ is expected to inspect the demonstration area in September.