A cooperation agreement on rice production and processing was signed between Tianjin Port Necessities Services and Heilongjiang Xiangshui Rice on June 6.

This marks the official opening of the plant base for safer, healthier rice with greater nutritional value. 38 tonnes of rice were shipped from the Heilongjiang province and will arrive at the Tianjin port within three days, indicative of concerns about food hygiene improvements in the industrial chain and brands of port catering services.

Xiangshui Rice is a leading enterprise for grain production in the Heilongjiang province, northeast China, specializing in rice production, processing and sales. It has a growing area of 2,000 mu (about 329 acres), with an annual output of 200,000 tonnes. Lake Jingpo, located in Ning’an, a county-level city in Heilongjiang province, is suitable for high-quality rice as it has been the place to produce rice for the imperial palace since the Tang Dynasty(AD 618-907). It boasts of a large temperature difference between day and night, fertile lava areas, and thermal water filled with trace elements necessary for the human body.

The two sides will conduct in-depth cooperation on the production and processing of various rice, including Jinding organic rice, long-grain rice and round-grain rice. They will also carry out scientific and specialized grain growing, providing an estimate of 1,000 tonnes of high-quality rice per year for employees in the Tianjin Port.