497.4 Tons of Mugwort Products Exported from Nanyang in First Four Months

497.4 Tons of Mugwort Products Exported from Nanyang in First Four Months

外国人也爱艾草？南阳艾制品前4个月出口497.4吨

Not only in China, mugwort products also enjoy great popularity abroad. From January to April, Nanyang Customs affiliated to Zhengzhou Customs supervised a total of 497.4 tons of mugwort products worth 13.37 million yuan, such as mugwort leaves, moxa (made from dried mugwort) and mugwort sticks, with a year-on-year increase of 130.2 percent and 129.7 percent respectively.

艾草制品不仅是国人的宝贝，在国外的粉丝也越来越多。5月19日，记者从郑州海关了解到，今年前4个月，郑州海关所属南阳海关共监管出口艾叶、艾绒、艾条等艾草制品497.4吨，与去年同期相比增长130.2%，货值1337万元，同比增长129.7%。

Mugwort products in Nanyang. [Photo/Henan Daily]

"Japan and South Korea have long tradition of using wormwood products, and in recent years, TCM physiotherapy has become more popular in western countries, including the United States and Germany, thus making the export volume increase year by year," said Song Xin, head of Nanyang Grass Jelly Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. As the largest enterprise for mugwort exports in Nanyang, they have been engaged in the export business of mugwort products since 2009. By last year, their output value has reached 350 million yuan with an export value 15 times that of 2009, covering Japan, Korea, Europe, the United States and many Southeast Asian countries. Apart from the traditional trade method, foreign trade orders via cross-border e-commerce have also surged over the past years. Particularly since the COVID-19 outbreak, inquiries overseas have increased fivefold.

“日本、韩国一直都有使用艾草制品的传统，近年来西方国家如美国、德国等欧洲国家，对艾灸等中医药传统理疗方式的接收度、喜爱度也越来越高，出口量逐年递增。”南阳仙草药业有限公司负责人宋鑫说，作为南阳最大的艾制品出口企业，该公司自2009年就开始从事艾制品出口贸易，截至去年，公司产值规模已达3.5亿元，出口额是2009年的15倍；洽谈客户群体涵盖了日韩、欧美、东南亚等多个国家；贸易方式除了传统海关出口，跨境电商的出单量也持续增多，尤其是新冠肺炎疫情发生以后，海外订单咨询量翻了5倍。

Mugwort herbs planted in Nanyang. [Photo/Henan Daily]

Do westerners use moxibustion in the same way as its Chinese users? Yi Xinping said, head of Nanyang Haoxiang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., who has been working with overseas traders for a long time, as a high-end physiotherapy treatment, moxibustion is used as a kind of daily health care or physical therapy in conjunction with trauma recovery in Europe and the United States, whose price is much higher than that in China. Moxibustion spreads by word of mouth. "Moxibustion health clinics operated by overseas Chinese are very popular in Western countries. The steady demand for products from the overseas buyers also prove that there are more regular customers there. Within the same community, if someone has experienced moxibustion, there will be more people inquiring about it."

西方人使用艾灸的方式跟国内一样吗？长期与海外贸易商打交道的南阳昊翔药业有限公司负责人尹新平说，在欧美等国，艾灸被作为一种日常保健或配合创伤恢复的理疗手段使用，属于高端理疗产品，价格要远高于国内。而艾灸的推广走的也是“口碑”传播路线，“华人开设的艾灸养生馆在西方国家很受欢迎，从贸易商持续稳定的要货量也可以看出，客户回头率非常高，在同一个社区里，有居民使用后很快就会有更多人咨询使用。”

The customs has made great efforts to promote TCM to go abroad faster. According to Nanyang Customs, with the preferential policies of Nanyang Wolong Comprehensive Bonded Zone, the Customs built an international industrial park for mugwort exports and processing together with the local government. At present, a total of 6 large-scale enterprises have already settled down there. At the same time, a series of "one-on-one" activities have been carried out to help more micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to establish a quality management system and constantly improve the quality of their products by offline training and on-site guidance. To achieve quick customs clearance for mugwort products, Nanyang Customs has optimized its current clearance procedures through reform, and realized fast release of inspection and quarantine certificate and certificate of origin by adopting enterprises' self-inspection reports.

为推动传统中医药更快走出国门，海关部门也是蛮拼的。南阳海关相关负责人介绍，依托南阳卧龙综合保税区政策优势，海关部门配合地方政府在区内建立了国际陆港艾草出口加工产业园，目前已引导6家规模企业入驻；同时积极开展“一对一”质量提升行动，通过线下辅导、入厂指导等形式，帮助多家中小微出口企业建立起质量管理体系，不断提升出口产品质量。在服务方面，通过改革不断优化海关检验出证流程，通过采信企业自检报告，快速出具检验检疫证书和原产地证书等方式，确保艾制品快速、高效通关。

According to statistics, in 2020, Nanyang totally exported 1,101 tons of mugwort products worth 29.32 million yuan, with each increasing by 40 percent and 67.9 percent year-on-year, showing a strong momentum.

据统计，2020年，南阳艾草制品共计出口1101吨，同比增长40%，货值2932万元，同比增长67.9%，出海势头强劲。（中文来源/河南日报 翻译/赵汉青 审校/李文竞）