Xinhua Silk Road: Spicy Chicken (Laziji) Grows Into Major Rural Industry In E. China's Zaozhuang City

BEIJING, Nov. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The spicy chicken (Laziji), a famous dish in Zaozhuang City of east China’s Shandong Province, has drawn tourists from afar with its unique flavor and driven the development of the industrial chain, reflecting the city’s dynamic practice of upgrading characteristic industries to boost rural revitalization.

The distinctive flavor of Zaozhuang spicy chicken relies on the Sunzhi chicken breed and the puckered pepper.

Currently, the Sunzhi chicken industrial chain standardization demonstration project can supply 10 million chicks annually. The puckered pepper has been recognized as a provincial-level regional public brand for well-known agricultural products, and four nationally-certified new varieties have been successfully cultivated, with annual seedling output exceeding 10 million plants.

The industrial chain continues to extend, with spicy chicken products distributed nationwide and supporting condiments demonstrating remarkable performance, collectively forming a comprehensive industrial ecosystem.

Meanwhile, culinary culture centers, museums, and consumption events are driving the deep integration of “spicy chicken plus culture and tourism”, spurring coordinated development.

Mechanism innovation and sci-tech finance are advancing in parallel. The city has established the Zaozhuang Spicy Chicken Industry Investment and Development Group which unites 12 enterprises to form a supply chain alliance, with sales already nearing 200,000 orders.

The locality has also collaborated with research institutions on breeding breakthroughs and innovated credit and insurance mechanisms, providing sustained momentum for industrial growth.

From a common homemade dish to a burgeoning 10-billion-yuan industry, Zaozhuang spicy chicken is driving rural revitalization like an engine.

Original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/348435.html