An artist's impression of the Northern Functional Food Industrial Park, currently being built in Shanxi Transformation and Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

A key provincial project designed to cater for emerging food industries – the Northern Functional Food Industrial Park – is currently being built in the province of Shanxi. 

Functional food is food given an additional purpose, often related to health-promotion or disease prevention, by adding new ingredients or more of existing ingredients.

Industry analysts say that the functional food industry, consisting of the food, beverage and supplement sectors, is one of several parts of the food industry that has seen rapid growth in recent years. 

With an investment of 4.5 billion yuan ($654.8 million), the park will cover a construction area of 700,000 square meters in the Shanxi Transformation and Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone.

Funded mostly by major investor Beijing Baoluo Investment Group -- a company engaged in the industrial health park business, hotel investment and management, finance and real estate development -- the park will focus on providing a quality service platform that targets food companies. 

Officials said it will develop itself into a comprehensive healthy and safe food industrial demonstration park that integrates research and development, intensive processing, product displays, among other functions. 

Currently, roof sealing of factories covering some 200,000 square meters has been completed in the wake of the start of construction in September 2018, according to Lei Xiangguo, general manager of the Northern Functional Food Industrial Park. 

The park will complete construction of its first phase – involving standardized factories, a cold chain logistics zone and a headquarters base -- in 2019. 

So far, some 40 companies have moved to the park and the number is estimated to reach 100 by the end of 2019.