Ba Salt is far-reaching.

　　As the “king of flavors” and the “mother of chemical industry,” salt is not only the most essential nutrient for human survival but also an indispensable raw material in the chemical industry. Over the past thirty-odd years, from Sote Salt & Chemical to Chongqing Yihua and then to Xiangyu Salt & Chemical, the company has grown from nothing to something, from a single salt plant to an integrated salt-and-alkali enterprise, and from a wholly state-owned enterprise to a joint-stock company—steadily keeping pace with the trends of the times, forging ahead amid challenges, growing through transformation, and continuously strengthening itself in the course of development.

　　The development of human exploitation and utilization of salt resources can be divided into three stages: the “Springtime Stage,” the “Irrigation and Firing Stage,” and the “Boiling Salt Stage.” China’s salt industry boasts a long and illustrious history, stretching back thousands of years. The Three Gorges region along the Yangtze River is rich in salt resources and has been praised as a fertile land where “one need not till or farm yet still enjoy sustenance; one need not sow or reap yet still have food to eat.” In the late Neolithic period, the Three Gorges region saw the emergence of the ancient tribe of Wuxian, the first recorded group in historical texts to rise to prominence through salt production. Later, salt transport workers who lived near the salt springs in the Three Gorges area went on to found the state of Ba. “A single spring flows like white jade; for ten thousand li, gold follows in its wake.” As one of China’s earliest regions engaged in artificial salt production, the Three Gorges area—represented by Ningchang in Wuxi, known as the “ancient kingdom of Wuxian, the ancient salt capital”—relied on age-old salt springs bestowed by heaven to produce salt, thereby forging a profound salt culture of the Ba people. At its peak, more than 100,000 people were involved in salt production, marketing, and transportation, creating the remarkable spectacle of “ten thousand hearths billowing with salt smoke.” The salt produced here supplied regions including the Hanzhong Basin, the Two Lakes Basin, the Sichuan Basin, and western Hubei, exerting a far-reaching influence.

　　The Gaofeng Salt Rock Formation dates back to the Triassic Period, approximately 230 million years ago. In the late Triassic, the Wanzhou Salt Basin was formed, centered around Gaofeng. The basin covers an area of 2,700 square kilometers and holds reserves totaling 150 billion tons. The salt rock ore has a grade of 82.23%, making it the largest in terms of both reserves and main-content concentration nationwide. With a burial depth exceeding 3,000 meters, it is the deepest well-mined high-quality rock salt deposit in China.