Licorice is one of China's key protected resource products. It is one of the country's export quota management products. It is widely used in medicine, food, cosmetics, cigarettes and other industries, and the global demand is increasing day by day. In addition to China, some countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe also have abundant licorice resources. In recent years, China has begun to import licorice from the above countries, and imports have increased year by year. In 2011, imports reached record highs.

Pieces imported second

Licorice resources in China are becoming increasingly scarce. Although artificial licorice has been added to supplement it, it still cannot meet the needs of domestic and foreign markets. Due to the large market demand, in 2011, licorice has already become China's second largest import of Chinese herbal medicines. Last year, China's total import and export of licorice (excluding licorice products) was 13,960 tons, an increase of 71.18% year-on-year, and total import and export volume was 28,235,300 USD, a year-on-year increase of 57.07%. The imports of licorice showed a good momentum of volume and price. The import volume was 10,659 tons, an increase of 123% year-on-year. The import volume was 10.12 million US dollars, an increase of 160% year-on-year. Licorice imports accounted for 76% of China's imports and exports of licorice. China's inspection and quarantine standards for imported licorice are also very strict. In addition to the quarantine of pests and diseases and weed seeds, the inspection of pesticide residue and heavy metal content is also carried out.

Judging from the imported regions, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan in Central Asia are the main regions for the import of licorice in China. In addition, China imports a small amount of licorice from Pakistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. According to statistics from China Customs, in 2011 China imported licorice from Central Asian countries accounted for 80% of total imports. Among them, the fastest growing import volume is Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

In order to alleviate the shortage of licorice resources, China implemented the import of licorice-free tariffs in 2008. On the distribution of export quotas, quotas were also granted to imported licorice companies, which greatly encouraged the morale of companies importing licorice.

The western Asian neighboring countries such as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are rich in wild medicinal resources and have good quality and are favored by domestic manufacturers. In 2011, there were 23 imported licorice enterprises in China, of which 13 were private enterprises, accounting for 71.46% of imports; two foreign-funded enterprises, accounting for 18.20% of imports; 8 state-owned enterprises, accounting for 10.3% of imports .

Market volume

The rapid growth of social demand has given rise to a shortage of supply of licorice. According to statistics, the annual demand for licorice in our country has reached more than 60,000 tons. In recent years, licorice has continued to grow in domestic and foreign markets, and prices have remained high. In 2011, China's exports of licorice were 3,300 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.25%; the export price was US$5.49/kg, up 31.53% year-on-year.

From the perspective of export regions, Japan, South Korea, China Taiwan, Germany, and the United States are the main regions for China's licorice exports. According to statistics from China Customs, in 2011, China's exports of licorice products to Asia reached 16,063,500 U.S. dollars, an increase of 35.73% year-on-year, accounting for 88.71% of China's total exports of licorice. Among them, China’s exports to Japan and Indonesia have increased by a large margin, and the prices of licorice exported to Japan and the Netherlands are relatively high.

At present, China's licorice export enterprises are mainly private enterprises. In 2011, China's private enterprises licorice exports amounted to $ 7,398,500, an increase of 16.37%, accounting for 40.86% of the country's total exports; licorice exports of foreign-funded enterprises and state-owned enterprises accounted for the national exports 29.37% and 29.77%.

The rise of natural medicines in various countries has led to a steady increase in the drug usage of licorice. Licorice is known as the “Five Sides and Nine Grasses” and its underground rhizomes are used as medicines. It has the effects of clearing away heat and toxic substances, relieving cough and phlegm, supplementing spleen and stomach, and reconciling various medicines.

Western medicine uses its flavor and flavor, and it is also the main raw material of more than 100 proprietary Chinese medicines such as compound licorice tablets. In recent years, medical research has also found that licorice has significant effects in terms of weight loss, anti-cancer, and anti-AIDS.

With the continuous in-depth research on licorice, non-pharmaceutical industry has developed and utilized licorice more and more widely. At present, in addition to being used in the medical and health care industry, licorice is also widely used in the food, daily chemical, tobacco, petroleum and dye industries.

Artificial planting problem

The shortage of licorice resources has become a worldwide problem, and the effective content of artificial licorice is low, the quality evaluation system of medicinal materials is not perfect, and the cultivation technology is not perfect, which restricts the development of the artificial planting industry of licorice.

In 2010, after a continuous study of licorice habits, Mitsubishi Plastics Corporation, a famous Japanese chemical company, began to adopt factory-planting production. The company stated that there is almost no difference in medicinal properties between its cultivated licorice and Chinese licorice, but its growth cycle only takes a year and a half. Compared with the natural growth period of Chinese licorice, it has been greatly improved.

Although China has achieved breakthroughs in many key technologies in artificial cultivation of licorice, there are still many problems, such as the quality and quality of high-quality licorice seeds. It is difficult to ensure that the quality of licorice seeds depends mainly on wild collection, as there are fewer and fewer wild resources. The collection of seeds is also getting less and less; the production cycle of licorice is 2 to 5 years and involves a large amount of fertilizers, pesticides, management and other costs; at the same time, the technical requirements for licorice planting are also high, from seed treatment to planting, field management And so on, all require a complete set of technology management.

Relevant state departments should formulate a series of preferential policies to encourage licorice production from the overall situation of the protection and development of licorice industry, and support the cultivation and production of licorice from the aspects of capital, technology and talents. In this way, it can not only protect the limited wild resources, but also promote the development of licorice production, and it can also meet the growing market demand.