On an early August afternoon, hundreds of boxes of mature honey were piled neatly at the factory of Xizang Shanzheng Bee Industry Technology Development CoLtd, waiting to be processed and bottled.
Located in Gongbo'Gyamdacounty, Nyingchicity, in Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, the company has exported two batches of honey to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region this year. The shipments totaled 3,030 kilograms of bee products valued at 1.2 million yuan ($175,000). According to the local government, the export marked a breakthrough—the first overseas shipment of Xizang bee products.
Founded in 2021, the company was invited to Gongbo'Gyamda as a key enterprise and settled in Bahe township in 2023. It has since established 12 beekeeping bases along the banks of the Nyang River and in the YarlungZangbo River Valley.
With its rugged terrain and abundant flora, Gongbo'Gyamda is home to more than 600 species of wild nectar-producing plants, making it an ideal beekeeping site.
"Our bees drink snowmelt and collect nectar from Tibetan medicinal herbs. Because of the strong ultraviolet radiation here, the bees rarely get sick," Chen Mei, a manager at Xizang Shanzheng Bee Industry Technology Development Co Ltd, told reporters on August 24.
In recent years the company has produced about 20 tons of wildflower honey annually, generating 5.6 million yuan ($833,350) in sales.
"We obtained halal certification last year, and we are looking to export a batch of honey to Dubai," Chen said.
Chen emphasized that the company's success rests on solid academic support. Partnering with institutions such as the Institute of Apiculture of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences, Shanzheng has adopted an ecological, standardized beekeeping model and established a rigorous system for managing bee-product materials.
The company's growth is also delivering tangible benefits to local communities. Since 2022, Shanzheng has worked with 130 households of herders and farmers in Gongbo'Gyamda county and Mainling city, teaching them beekeeping skills, supplying equipment, and purchasing their honey. It has trained 10 professional beekeepers in the region.
"Beekeeping is a hard trade, but it’s also a sustainable one," Chen said. "It can truly turn the valuable resources of our lush mountains and clear waters into livelihoods for our farmers and herders."
