Workers sort forsythia leaves at a factory in Yicheng before they are made into herbal teas. [Photo by Hu Bo for China Daily]

Yicheng, a county in the south of Shanxi province, is increasing its collaboration with research institutions and leading marketing companies in the province to develop its herbal tea industry.

On May 8, the Yicheng county government signed an agreement with Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine to improve the research and development capabilities of its herbal industry.

On that same day, the government inked deals with Taiyuan-based Huaxia Shangdao Trade Co and the Shanxi Tea Culture Research Institute for the promotion and marketing of local herbal teas.

Wang Yuan, Party secretary of the county, said the two agreements will push Yicheng's herbal tea industry up to a new level as the local players can better share marketing resources and R&D that they used to lack.

According to Liu Feng, mayor of Yicheng, the county is home to more than 370 medical herbs, including more than 200 varieties that grow in the wild.

The county is famous for forsythia, which has the largest output among all medical herbs and is known for its high quality.

However, the county's farmers mostly collect forsythia from the wild, which has a harvest area of about 3,000 hectares.

Due to a limited capacity in production and sales, annual output of local forsythia ingredients, including seeds, roots, stems and leaves, were only 60,000 metric tons in recent years. The annual revenue from the industry was about 600 million yuan ($84.53 million), according to Wang.

"As Shanxi plans to develop the herbal tea sector into an economic pillar, I believe there is more growth potential for the industry in our county," the Party chief said.

He added that Shanxi's plan for the sector highlights cross-region and cross-industry cooperation, which will help the sharing of advantageous resources.

He noted that Yicheng county's collaboration with Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine will offer crucial intelligence and technology support for the local herbal tea industry.

"As we foresee a substantial growth after our newly signed partnership agreements, we are planning to enlarge the capacity in planting and production," Wang said.

He revealed that county plans to develop more than 1,400 hectares of artificial plantations for forsythia.