A signing and groundbreaking ceremony for key projects was held in Zhaoqing High-Tech Zone on September 16. The event marked the official start of the Huifa Corn Deep Processing Digital Intelligence Project and the formal signing of a South China Super Factory project by a renowned domestic beverage company, with a combined planned total investment of 2.03 billion yuan.
The Huifa Corn Deep Processing Digital Intelligence Project achieved a remarkable "Zhaoqing Speed" with same-day evaluation, signing, and groundbreaking. This marks the fifth round of capacity expansion for Zhaoqing Huifa Biotechnology Co., Ltd. since its establishment in the high-tech zone, with a planned investment of 1.03 billion yuan. The project will utilize 165 mu of its own land to construct 40,000 square meters of modern factories, comprehensively upgrading digital and intelligent production lines to manufacture products such as F55 fructose syrup, xylitol, isomaltulose, and mannitol. Once operational, the project is expected to achieve an annual output value of 1.7 billion yuan and an annual production capacity exceeding one million tons. Since 2008, Zhaoqing Huifa Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has invested over 4 billion yuan in total.
Meanwhile, the South China Super Factory project by the well-known domestic beverage company, signed simultaneously, involves a planned total investment of 1 billion yuan and covers 108 mu of land. This project focuses on functional fermented products and the premium beverage sector, planning to produce HPP fresh juices, tea drinks, protein beverages, and various functional fermented products. With an annual output close to 800,000 tons, it is projected to generate an annual output value of 1 billion yuan once fully operational.
The simultaneous progress of these two billion-yuan projects is a testament to the high-tech zone's years of dedication to the food and beverage sector, strengthening the chain through supplementation, extension, and enhancement. As a pilot zone for food industry cultivation in Guangdong Province, the high-tech zone has built a three-dimensional investment network and planned an industrial spatial layout with one core area and two supporting zones. With the Xijiang Laboratory serving as the innovation core, the southern area hosts supporting services such as cold-chain logistics and product testing, while the northern area plans a dedicated food and beverage industrial park exceeding 1,000 mu.
Since 2022, the zone has attracted 48 new food and beverage industry projects with a planned investment of nearly 6 billion yuan. Currently, 63 food and beverage-related enterprises are based in the zone, including Dali Foods, China Resources C'estbon, Wens Dairy, and Fresh Juice. In 2025, the food industry in Zhaoqing High-Tech Zone achieved operating revenue exceeding 9.3 billion yuan, with expectations to surpass 10 billion yuan in 2026. A full industrial chain ecosystem covering raw materials, ingredients, packaging, equipment, filling, cold chain, and sales is rapidly taking shape.
To strengthen the industry chain, the local government focuses on both attracting new projects and unlocking supply chain and innovation potential. On the raw material supply front, a "company + base + farmer" model has been implemented to promote large-scale and standardized local farming. Enterprises in the zone maintain stable partnerships with over ten bases across the city, with an average annual procurement scale of local raw materials reaching 500 million yuan.
In terms of industrial support, the zone actively builds intra-regional linkages and cross-district collaboration networks. Leveraging the "Sanshui-Dawang" supply-demand matching platform, 35 companies have achieved successful supply-demand connections with transactions exceeding 10 million yuan. On the innovation front, with the Xijiang Laboratory as the core, the zone links multiple provincial-level scientific research platforms to establish a collaborative innovation network. Currently, food and beverage companies in the zone hold 174 invention patents.
Concurrently, the local government is exploring the integration of industry and tourism. With two national 3A-level industrial tourism attractions and planned food-themed tourism routes, the zone can accommodate up to 200,000 visitors annually, continuously expanding new development spaces for the industry.
With ambition and momentum, Zhaoqing High-Tech Zone's food and beverage industry is surging toward its target of a 10-billion-yuan cluster. A modern food and beverage industry city, brimming with innovation and vitality, is rapidly emerging in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.