A worker opreates a machine in the field of herbals in Zhangye, Gansu province. [Photo/gansudaily.com]

Over the years, Minle county of Zhangye, Gansu province, has upgraded its industrial chain, expanded base construction, cultivated leading enterprises and upgraded its logistics system to boost the Chinese herbal medicine industry to become one of its pillar industries.

Up to now, the county is home to more than 400 cooperatives planting herbal crops, 22 small workshops with a primary processing capacity exceeding 13,000 tons, and 12 medicine enterprises with an annual processing capacity of 40,000 tons.

The county has also invested 126 million yuan ($17.9 million) to build a herbal medicine industrial park that integrates market transactions, warehousing logistics and e-commerce platforms.