120,000 mu
Green food base
8 firms with 13 certified products
03 · GI & Quality
Trademark, Standard,Traceability
Registered as a national GI certification trademark in 2008 — standards, audits and traceability hold quality at every step.
Geographical Indication of P.R. China · Official mark
- Certification trademark since 2008
- Local and group standards in force
- Licensed use with tracked printing
Registration
A protected name, not a marketing claim
Source: Shimen County Citrus Association.
- Registered
- September 2008, State Administration for Industry and Commerce
- Rights holder
- Shimen County Citrus Association
- Registration no.
- 5038954
- Honour
- “Renowned Fruit of China”, same year
- Standards
- Local and group standards issued alongside
- Administration
- Licensed use, tracked printing, anti-counterfeit codes
Growing coordinates
Why this latitude
Shimen sits on the 30th parallel in Changde, Hunan — a belt where citrus ripens with high sugar and thin peel.
- 01 · 30°N
On the 30th parallel
Shimen County lies at 30°N, a latitude belt suited to citrus with high brix and thin peel.
- 02 · Title
Hometown of Chinese Citrus
Awarded by the State Forestry Administration in August 2001; the county is also the registered home of the national GI trademark.
- 03 · Early
China's First County for Early Mandarins
Recognised by the China Citrus Society in October 2000; groves ripen earlier than most areas on the same parallel.
Licensed scale · Feb 2023
What actually carries the label
Licensees must grow, buy and sell to local standards.
- 400Kt/yr
- sales volume countywide
- 83Kt/yr
- fruit carrying the GI label
- 18 / 57
- marketing firms / large traders
- 17 / 35
- licensed firms / traders
Licensed trade
83,168 t labelled
Countywide
Use the mark under licence
Certifications
A standards stack built for export
Six layers of assurance that map onto what overseas buyers and their auditors ask for.
2 products
Organic certification
Certified organic citrus products
100,500 mu
Export registration
Customs-registered orchards
2 certificates
GLOBALG.A.P.
Aligned with global buyer audits
DB430726/001-2005
Local standards
Safe-quality specification for Shimen citrus
DB430726/T002-2005
Cultivation code
Code of practice for cultivation
GI-labelled fruit accounts for more than 30% of annual output. Source: association profile, 2026.
Control chain
From mark use to market entry
01
Source audit
Mark use policed at the source, against licensed volumes.
02
Print & sampling
Designated printers are sampled and spot-checked.
03
Licence enforcement
Violators lose the licence immediately.
04
Flow patrols
Patrols target distributors and large traders.
05
Batch testing
Fresh fruit is tested batch by batch before market entry.
Support
Strict controls, sustained investment
Source: Shimen County Citrus Association and county government.
Brand protection
- Mark use regulated from the source
- Sampling and unannounced inspections of authorised packers
- Immediate withdrawal of use and printing rights on violation
- Anti-counterfeit patrols focused on distributors
Policy support
- RMB 0.3M per year for brand management
- RMB 1.8M+ per year in promotion investment
- “One county, one specialty” support at provincial and county level
- Demonstration parks, village-enterprise links and year-round grower training
Need the compliance file?
Certificates, standards and inspection records can be shared for your buyer audit.
Data source: The People's Government of Changde City (Portal); Shimen County Citrus Association. 1 mu ≈ 667 m². Specifications are for reference only and subject to pre-shipment samples.