How can the hawthorn industry help rural revitalization? A case study of three-industry integration by leading enterprises

Industrial revitalization is the core of rural revitalization, and distinctive industries are the "golden key" to activating rural economies. In many northern regions of China, the hawthorn industry has become an important link connecting farmers with markets and driving rural development, thanks to its strong adaptability, long industrial chain, and great potential for value addition. In particular, the "three-industry integration" model led by leading enterprises has transformed the humble hawthorn from farmland to processing workshops and tourism scenarios, solving agricultural product marketing issues, creating diverse employment opportunities, and reshaping the rural industrial ecosystem, providing a replicable practical model for rural revitalization.

The hawthorn industry's contribution to rural revitalization is primarily reflected in establishing stable income channels for farmers. Hawthorn trees are drought-resistant and can thrive in poor soil, making them suitable for cultivation in mountainous and hilly areas, not only improving the rural ecological environment but also generating benefits from idle land. Under the leadership of leading enterprises, the traditional "individual farming and self-selling" model has been broken - companies sign "protective price purchase agreements" with farmers, securing hawthorn purchase prices in advance to avoid market fluctuations harming farmers. Taking Xinglong, Hebei as an example, local leading enterprises maintain hawthorn purchase prices at 20% above market value, helping fruit farmers increase their annual income by over 3,000 yuan through this measure alone; some enterprises have also introduced a "shareholding dividend" model, where farmers invest with land or fruit trees and receive both seasonal sales revenue and annual corporate profit dividends, achieving "double income from one plot of land".

Employment is fundamental to people's livelihood, and the full-chain development of the hawthorn industry has created numerous "doorstep jobs" for rural areas. In the primary industry sector, standardized cultivation bases require long-term maintenance personnel, absorbing many stay-behind elderly and women for tasks from spring flower and fruit thinning, summer pest control, to autumn harvesting and sorting; in the secondary industry sector, processing workshop positions such as washing, juicing, and packaging provide stable industrial worker positions for villagers, with many migrant workers returning home for employment, alleviating the rural "hollowing out" problem; even in the tertiary industry sector, positions such as tour guides and interpreters in hawthorn tourism projects, and customer service and packaging staff in e-commerce platforms have extended rural employment structure from "single agriculture" to "diverse services". Statistics show that a medium-sized hawthorn leading enterprise can directly create employment for 500-1,000 people nearby and indirectly benefit thousands in the upstream and downstream industrial chain.

What truly makes the hawthorn industry an "engine" of rural revitalization is the "three-industry integration" model driven by leading enterprises - based on primary industry, centered on secondary industry, and extended to tertiary industry, achieving seamless integration of "cultivation + processing + tourism/e-commerce".
In primary industry, leading enterprises guide the construction of standardized cultivation bases, introducing superior seed breeding technology and organic cultivation standards, providing unified seedlings, fertilizers, and technical guidance to ensure stable hawthorn quality. This "enterprise + base + farmer" model not only improves agricultural product quality but also helps farmers master scientific cultivation techniques, laying a solid foundation for industrial development.

Secondary industry is key to value enhancement. Enterprises overcome the limitations of "primary processing" through modern processing workshops, developing multiple product categories including preserved fruits, beverages, and functional foods. For example, hawthorn pulp is made into low-sugar hawthorn desserts and fruit bars, flavonols are extracted from the peel for health products, and seeds are processed into antibacterial liquid, achieving "whole fruit utilization" and multiplying the hawthorn's added value. Meanwhile, processing waste is converted into organic fertilizer, nurturing cultivation bases and forming a "green cycle".

Tertiary industry injects cultural and market vitality into the hawthorn industry. Leading enterprises develop "hawthorn theme parks" based on cultivation bases, offering spring hawthorn flower viewing, autumn picking experiences, and building hawthorn culture museums and transparent processing corridors for visitors to directly experience the entire process from fresh fruit to products; simultaneously developing e-commerce platforms to sell hawthorn products nationwide and internationally through live streaming and community marketing. This "agriculture + tourism + e-commerce" integration model enables rural areas to not only "grow good products" but also "attract good tourists" and "sell at good prices".

Chengde Ruitai Food Co., Ltd. is a typical example of how the hawthorn industry's three-industry integration supports rural revitalization. As a leading enterprise in Hebei's Xinglong, its "planting industrial park + processing industrial park + agricultural tourism park" structure directly helps over 1,400 farming households increase their income and provides employment for hundreds of people; while expanding sales channels through e-commerce platforms and revitalizing rural areas through tourism projects, achieving both enterprise development and providing solid industrial support for Xinglong's rural revitalization.

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