In the late summer season, stepping into Cheqian Village, a vast rural area in Huangtang Town, Zijin County, Heyuan City, lush camellia oil plantations are everywhere. Not only along the main village roads but also in idle corners of the village, there are endless rows of camellia trees, thriving with fruitful branches.

“Camellia trees start bearing fruit after three years and reach full production in six to seven years, with over a hundred pounds of oil per mu. This can increase the income of the village collective economy and bring prosperity to villagers…” said Zhang Zicheng, Party Secretary of the General Branch of Cheqian Village, happily. “We have designated camellia oil as the dominant industry for both the town and the village. We continue to expand its planting this year, develop our camellia oil brand, and aim to build a camellia oil specialty village and a ‘ten-thousand-mu camellia town'.”

New Model of Rural Revitalization

Camellia Industry Leads to Dual Leaps in Output and Appeal

Cheqian Village is located within Huangtang Town, Zijin County. Not only does it have an advantageous geographical location, but it also boasts abundant natural resources and cultural heritage.

In recent years, Cheqian Village has achieved significant accomplishments in development and construction. It was not only one of the first provincial model villages for rural revitalization but also became one of the first typical villages for the provincial “Millions of Projects.” This has resulted in dual improvements in appeal and output.

Zhang Zicheng explained that Cheqian Village mainly plants camellia, rice, plums, and other agricultural products. Among them, the scale of camellia planting continues to expand. In 2025, about 500,000 jin of camellia fruit were produced, yielding 15,000 jin of oil, with a total output value of 12 million yuan. This led to 50 households participating in planting, with each household increasing their annual income by more than 10,000 yuan, and adding 60,000 yuan to the village's collective income.

When asked why he encouraged the development of the camellia industry in the village, Zhang Zicheng said, “We are confident in developing the camellia industry. On one hand, the village has many forested areas, which are very suitable for planting camellia. The town has a total forested area of 288,000 mu, and Cheqian Village alone has 44,000 mu of forested land. On the other hand, it is based on the foundation of Hua'Nong Family Farm. By 2025, our village's camellia industry had become a ‘One Village, One Product' project.”

Last May, to further promote the development of the camellia industry, Cheqian Village established Zijin County Hua'Hong Agricultural and Forestry Development Co., Ltd. The company operates through a “Company + Village + Farmers” planting model, making full use of “four sides” and “five edges,” as well as wastelands, for planting camellia.

Currently, the village has a camellia planting area of 1,400 mu, with a cumulative expansion of 10,000 camellia trees. Additionally, 8 million yuan was invested this year to cultivate 2,000 mu of mountainous land and create a county-level camellia demonstration site.

New Vitality for Rural Revitalization

Deepening Camellia Industry to Write a New Chapter for Brand Building

Following the main village road into the thousand-mu camellia base, the sight that greeted us was villagers busily tending to the camellia fields on the hills.

“Although August is hot, seeing the large camellia fruits hanging from the branches makes me feel very satisfied,” said Ye Jinghua, head of Zijin County Hua'Hong Agricultural and Forestry Development Co., Ltd., who was weeding nearby. He returned to his hometown to start a business in 2011 and, after multiple inspections, ultimately chose to plant camellia. Initially, through self-exploration, he planted 600 mu of camellia in five years, but the yield was not satisfactory. By 2015, under the guidance and leadership of Hua'Nong Family Farm, the camellia plantation expanded from 600 mu to 1,400 mu.

“The company plans to invest 40 million yuan by 2026, and the total area of camellia planting will reach 10,000 mu,” said Ye Jinghua.

Furthermore, on the basis of building the camellia base, Cheqian Village is committed to creating the “Chuiluo Ridge Camellia” brand. It strongly supports powerful camellia companies and major camellia growers to grow and strengthen, improves the ability to plant and process camellia, extends the industrial chain, enhances the technological content of products, and increases product competitiveness, continuously enhancing the reputation and market influence of the local camellia industry.

“We plan to build a 5,000-square-meter deep processing factory for camellia oil in 2025,” said Zhang Zicheng. Through deep processing, the value of camellia oil can be increased fourfold, and more than 16 camellia products and seven personal care products can be developed. Next, Cheqian Village will build a deep processing factory for camellia oil and purchase equipment to develop more camellia products that meet market demands, improving and strengthening the extension of the camellia industrial chain, and establishing the brand for the “one town, one industry” camellia industry in Huangtang.

New Path for Rural Revitalization

Fusion of Agriculture, Tourism, and Sports to Create a New Picture of “Sports Huangtang”

“In addition to camellia planting in Cheqian Village, Jin'kou Village and Cheng'tian Village also plant camellia…” introduced Liu Xinhua, Deputy Secretary of the Huangtang Town Party Committee. This year, a total of 2,000 mu of camellia were planted throughout the town, including 200 mu on idle land along the roadsides in Cheqian Village, 100 mu on spare land along both sides of the river in Jin'kou Village, and 200 mu in Cheng'tian Village.

He mentioned that Cheqian Village is actively creating a typical exemplary village for the “Millions of Projects,” promoting cooperation between Cheqian Village and Cheng'tian Village. It provides technical guidance for the camellia in Cheng'tian Village, expected to increase the village's collective economy income by 40,000 yuan by the end of the year.

In recent years, Huangtang Town has adapted measures to local conditions and implemented targeted policies, making full use of natural resources and the advantages of agricultural resources in various villages to vigorously develop industries such as Cheqian camellia oil, Sanhong honey pomelo, Zha'long Tea, green-shelled eggs and sweet bamboo shoots from Caokeng