We are a major grower and seller of yew trees and manufacturers of products made from yew trees, including potted yew trees for display in homes and offices, and handicrafts. We also sell branches and leaves of yew trees for the manufacture of TCM containing taxol, which TCM has been approved in the PRC for use as a secondary treatment of certain cancers, meaning it must be administered in combination with other pharmaceutical drugs.
For the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, we operated in three reportable business segments:
(1) the TCM raw materials segment, consisting of the production and sale of yew raw materials used in the manufacture of TCM;
(2) the yew tree segment, consisting of the growth and sale of yew tree seedlings and mature trees, including potted miniature yew trees; and
(3) the handicrafts segment, consisting of the manufacture and sale of furniture and handicrafts made of yew timber.
All of our operations are conducted in the PRC. Since 1996, we have grown Japanese yew trees (also referred to in China as Northeast yew trees), taxus cuspidata, on mountain hillsides near Harbin and cultivate them in four nurseries we operate near Harbin. We have successfully cultivated more than eight million yew nursery seedlings in four nurseries. These nurseries occupy approximately 19,759 Mu (approximately 2,957 acres) of forested land. We currently have the capacity to grow up to two million yew nursery seedlings annually. We also have contractual rights to use an additional 1,000,000 Mu (approximately 166,667 acre) site in Wuchang, which land we currently do not utilize, for future expansion of our yew tree growing operations.