Sote's Rise

　　In 1987, thanks to the active efforts of local authorities, the insightful advice and planning provided by experts, and suggestions from deputies to the People's Congress, the Wanzhou region invested 181.7 million yuan to implement the 300,000-ton-per-year vacuum salt production project at the Eastern Sichuan Salt Plant. This project boasts the largest single-unit capacity for well-mined salt in China and features the deepest brine wells in the world. For the first time in China, it employed a “circulating fluidized-bed” boiler designed and manufactured entirely by domestic engineers. Moreover, it was the first to adopt the two-alkali process for brine purification and is the only Asian member of the International Association for Brine Mining.

　　To explore a path of modern enterprise development with Chinese characteristics, the Chuandong Salt Factory— as a contemporary inheritor of the Ba-Yan cultural legacy—underwent multiple rounds of reform and restructuring to become Chongqing Sote Salt & Chemical Co., Ltd. General Secretary Jiang Zemin, Premier Li Peng, Chairman Wu Bangguo, Vice Chairman Zou Jiahua, and other national leaders have successively visited Sote for research and conducted special discussions on the company’s production management and strategic planning. Guided by science and technology, branded by quality, and driven by sales, Sote has developed 11 varieties of salt. During its specialized operation period, it captured 85% of the Chongqing market share and has also exported its products extensively to Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia. The “Sote” brand refined salt won the Gold Award at the Sichuan Provincial Industrial Products Expo, while the “Sote” brand iodized edible salt was recognized as a Famous Brand Product of Chongqing Municipality and named one of Chongqing’s Best Food Brands. Through mergers and acquisitions of the Yunyang County Salt Factory, the Zhong County State-owned Salt Factory, the Tianba Salt Factory in Wuxi County, and the Ningchang Ancient Salt Factory in Wuxi County, Sote has achieved a regional restructuring of the salt industry in eastern Chongqing.