NANNING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The golden-yellow liquid carries a delicate fruity fragrance. A sip brings a tangy-sweet burst to the palate. Yet few would guess the vinegar beverage is made from sugarcane, as some companies in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region find new uses for a crop long associated with sugar production.
With a warm, humid climate well suited to sugarcane cultivation, Guangxi is China's largest sugarcane-growing base. The region has accounted for around 60 percent of the country's total sugar output for years.
Now, the value chain of the tall, jointed crop is evolving, with mechanized farming reshaping production and diverse products revealing its versatility.
Yu Caiku, 36, was walking between the rows of sugarcane in Guangxi's Laibin City. Leaves brushed against his body, making a soft rustle.
A sugarcane farmer himself, Yu also heads a farm machinery service cooperative in the city, providing mechanized farming services to more than 300 sugarcane-growing households each year, covering over 10,000 mu (about 667 hectares) of sugarcane fields.
After checking the condition of the sugarcane field, Yu opened an app on his phone to guide a drone, which took off and flew along a preset route, spraying pesticides over the field. "Manual spraying could cover only three to five mu per hour. Now, with the drone, we can spray hundreds of mu in a single morning," said Yu.
Changes are not limited to spraying. Laibin City has also introduced digital soil monitoring in some areas. By tailoring fertilizer application based on data collected on soil pH, moisture and nutrient levels, farmers have reduced fertilizer use by 15 percent per mu while increasing sugarcane yields by 200 kilograms per mu in some fields, said Wang Zeping, a researcher at the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
In the 2025-26 crushing season, Guangxi's sugarcane planting area reached 12.34 million mu, the highest in nearly a decade, the region's official data revealed.
The extensive sugarcane cultivation provides a backdrop for companies exploring new uses for the crop beyond sugar production. Vinegar-drink producer Haoqingchun offers one example.
Headquartered in the city of Chongzuo, where one-fifth of China's sugar is produced, the company focuses on sugarcane-based fermented beverages.
"The idea of developing fermented products, such as vinegar and beer, came from consumers' growing awareness of healthy eating and sugar intake," said Lu Mingshan, general manager of Haoqingchun Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
By combining traditional vinegar-making techniques with modern fermentation technology, the company reduces the sugar content of fresh local sugarcane juice during fermentation while retaining its iron content, according to Lu. He attributed the relatively high iron content of locally grown sugarcane to the reddish soil.
The refreshing vinegar drink has found a market not only in China but also overseas, including Vietnam and the Republic of Korea. Exports generated around 20 million yuan (about 3 million U.S. dollars) in 2025, accounting for roughly one-third of the company's total sales, Lu said.
Data show that Guangxi processed about 60.93 million tonnes of sugarcane in the 2025-26 crushing season, producing around 7.7 million tonnes of sugar, up about 19 percent year on year. Byproducts such as molasses and bagasse are used in various industries, forming a virtuous cycle.
In Chongzuo, over 200,000 tonnes of molasses are every year turned into high-activity dry yeast, yeast extracts and other products at the local branch of Angel Yeast, said Liu Peidong, assistant general manager of the branch. The products are sold in more than 160 countries and regions.
While in Laibin, an intelligent system at Guangxi Ecolink Technology Co., Ltd. automates the process of turning bagasse into smooth, cream-colored biodegradable tableware. Once fully operational, the project is expected to produce 100,000 tonnes of plant-fiber food containers and utensils annually, with a yearly output value of 1.5 billion yuan, said Zhu Min, deputy general manager of the company.
Elsewhere in Guangxi, bagasse is also used in papermaking and biomass power generation. The comprehensive utilization rate of bagasse and molasses in the region has reached 100 percent, according to a sugar industry development report from the regional government released in July.
Sugarcane-themed tourism is also taking root across Guangxi, creating new opportunities for local communities. In Buhua Village of Chongzuo's Xinhe Town, tourists are trying their hand at traditional sugar-making, stirring boiling sugarcane juice in a large pot with long wooden paddles. They can also take part in other activities, from sugarcane planting to the recycling and reuse of byproducts.
The town has developed a rural tourism area. In 2025, it attracted more than 500,000 visits and helped over 600 local households increase their annual income by an average of 2,000 yuan.
Getting more "sweetness" out of sugarcane reflects China's broader efforts to modernize the agriculture sector and unlock greater value from agricultural resources. The country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) calls for strengthening agricultural science and technology, and promoting deeper integration of farming, processing and services in rural areas. ■
