The second phase of construction on a sea buckthorn industrial park in Yanshou county, Harbin began on Aug 16.

The industrial park specializes in product development and the deep processing of sea buckthorn.

The second phase of the project will cover an area of 52,594 square meters and consist of sea buckthorn extraction workshops, solid and liquid processing workshops, a product research and development center, and cold storage. It has received 200 million yuan ($28.32 million) in funding from its owners.

Construction is expected to finish in two years, making the industrial park the largest fresh sea buckthorn fruit production center with the most comprehensive extraction equipment in China.

The center will be able to handle 10,000 tons of fresh sea buckthorn fruit and produce 6,000 tons of sea buckthorn aseptic filling juice every year. It can also supply raw materials such as sea buckthorn fruit oil, sea buckthorn seed oil, sea buckthorn flavonoids, and sea buckthorn fruit powder.

Annual sales are expected to increase by 180 million yuan, which will drive local economic development  and increase profits. It will also create 120 or more jobs for locals.

Yanshou county was chosen as the site of the industrial park due to its large annual output of fresh sea buckthorn, said Zhang Jiandong, general manager of Yanshou Dingxin Bioengineering Co Ltd, investor of the industrial park.

More than 40,000 mu (2,666.67 hectares) of sea buckthorn are currently being planted in Yanshou county, spreading over six towns and three townships in the county. The annual output can reach as high as 60,000 tons.