In a smart incubator in Gutian county, Fujian, silver ear fungi grow on cultivation rods made from cottonseed shells. HU MEIDONG/CHINA DAILY

Place of plenty

However, the food shortages are long gone.

Official figures showed fishing industry output in Ningde alone now tops 35.5 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) annually. The city boasts a multibillion-yuan business that caters to 80 percent of the country's demand for large yellow croakers, a common ingredient in Chinese dishes.

In Gutian, a county-level jurisdiction in Ningde known as the capital of edible fungi, 25 production bases churn out 900,000 metric tons of fresh fungi each year worth 6.2 billion yuan.

In the country's quest for food security amid global supply chain uncertainties, experts have touted the Fujian model as one to follow.

Xi's governance work in the province laid the groundwork for the flourishing macro food industries, providing valuable insights that can be emulated elsewhere, they added.

Lian Xin, a senior Party official from Ningde, where Xi served as Party chief between 1988 and 1990, said at a meeting in the city last week attended by China Daily, that while the shortage of arable land may appear to be a disadvantage from a traditional agricultural perspective, when seen through the lens of macro foods, this scarcity can actually be advantageous.

"We plant grains where they grow well, fish where it's right, and grow fruits where it works. Our main aim is to create a mix of farming that fits with Ningde's natural endowments," he said.