Distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen:

　　Good morning, everyone!

　　Welcome, everyone, to Yanshan Chestnut Company and Yanlong Machinery Company. It is an immense honor for me, Zhang, to have invited more than thirty leading figures and renowned experts from the chestnut industry to Funing, where we can jointly chart the future of the chestnut-processing sector and witness the live demonstration of our energy‑based chestnut‑shelling machine. I extend my heartfelt thanks to all my colleagues. Today is a day worth commemorating; on this occasion, please allow me to express my sincere gratitude to my brothers Zhu Gang and Liu Jicheng. It was you who brought me into the chestnut community and stood by me during my most challenging times, helping me overcome one hurdle after another. I also wish to thank all our old and new friends who have shown their care and support to Yanshan Company. May each of you enjoy happiness and joy every day, and may all your endeavors go smoothly and as you wish! Now, let us return to the main topic at hand.

　　Yanlong Machinery Company is a subsidiary of Yanshan Chestnut. Established in May of this year, it has three shareholders: the legal representative of the inventor of the “Chestnut Energy‑Based Shelling Machine,” Mr. Liu Haibin, a professional manufacturer of food‑processing machinery, and myself, Zhang.

　　The background behind establishing Yanlong Machinery Company and producing chestnut‑shelling machines: Last winter, I had intended to purchase shelling equipment from Qianxi Shijie Agriculture. When I brought Mr. Liu Haibin, an expert in food‑processing machinery, to Zunhua to inspect the Pearl Sweet Chestnuts, a remark by Chairman Wang Yanjun struck a chord. He said, “Although this equipment still has its shortcomings, this is the inevitable path forward; otherwise, the chestnut‑processing industry will face even greater challenges.” Today, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Chairman Wang Yanjun—here, I bow in thanks to him. As we prepared to replicate a chestnut‑shelling machine, our online research revealed that in April 1985 and May 1993, the research team led by He Zhaotai at the Qingdao Foreign Trade Science and Technology Research Institute filed two patent applications—one for the “energy‑based chestnut‑shelling machine” principle and another for a utility model. Later, through friends in Qingdao, we located Mr. He Zhaotai. After negotiations, he agreed to grant us an exclusive license to the energy‑based chestnut‑shelling technology. We also learned that the shelling equipment currently produced by a certain enterprise in Qianxi had been resold to them by Mr. He, based on his earlier data and drawings. The unit before us is a newly designed, next‑generation model reengineered by Mr. He and his original research team, with a production capacity nearly twice that of the original equipment—around 1.5 tons per hour. Of course, the technology‑transfer fee was substantial, so we will not disclose the exact amount.

　　The R&D team is led by Mr. Liu Haibin, who comes from a long‑standing family of food‑machinery manufacturers, and includes Mr. Zhang Wenwei, Technical Director and Deputy General Manager of Yanlong Company as well as a master’s student in the Department of Food Engineering at China Agricultural University. Also on board is Mr. Wang Zhihua, a pioneer in the application and practical implementation of energy‑based chestnut‑shelling technology. Mr. Wang was recommended by Mr. He Zhaotai, the inventor of this energy‑based method; back in the 1980s and 1990s, Mr. He had already developed energy‑based shelling equipment, and Mr. Wang was its first practitioner, personally participating in the design and refinement of the initial prototype. He is a truly hands‑on, pragmatic authority in the field. In addition, numerous materials experts from institutions such as the Shanhaiguan Bridge Factory and the Shanhaiguan Shipyard have contributed to the joint development. Although this equipment may appear simple at first glance, it is anything but: it must endure continuous operation under high temperature and high pressure. With guidance from several leading specialists and after countless rounds of testing, we have finally achieved today’s results. I am proud to say that an “industrial revolution” has been born in the chestnut‑peeling industry—one that will upend traditional artisanal peeling methods and bring tangible benefits to our colleagues across the chestnut sector.

　　Below is an overview of the energy‑based chestnut shelling machine. The basic concept of this energy‑based chestnut sheller is that it comprises a suite of equipment designed and configured to meet the fundamental requirements of canned chestnut kernel products.

　　1. Equipment Composition:

　　1. First, you must have a steam boiler with a capacity of at least 1 ton, operating at a normal working pressure of 4 to 4.5 kg/cm².

　　2. Chestnuts must be scored; for now, this is done manually. In the next phase, based on actual performance in chestnut shelling, we will develop and manufacture semi‑automatic or fully automated scoring equipment.

　　3. A 180-kW tunnel-type electric roaster can process approximately 1,500 kg of medium‑ripe chestnuts per hour. Roasting induces the “Maillard” reaction, enhancing the nuts’ aroma. Replacing the traditional wok with this oven eliminates environmental pollution, and it also delivers outstanding results when used to produce “Kaikouxiao”‑style roasted chestnut sticks.

　　4. Water‑cooling tank: The roasted chestnuts are rapidly cooled to cause the kernels to contract and harden, making the inner skin absorb water and peel off easily—much like plunging a boiled egg into cold water to cool it quickly.

　　5. The cooled chestnuts are conveyed via a mesh belt into the main shelling machine, where they are processed uniformly regardless of size.

　　6. Chestnut kernel‑skin separator: It separates the chestnut skins from the kernels discharged by the main unit, after which the products are conveyed to the sorting table for manual selection.

　　7. After being separated by the separator, the chestnut kernels are manually sorted on two 5-meter-long conveyor belts.

　　II. Yield and Shell-Removal Quality:

　　1. The equipment can process approximately 1,500 kilograms of fresh chestnuts per hour, and it is best suited for small- to medium-sized nuts.

　　2. The complete shelling rate of chestnut kernels is approximately 85%; most of the shells have been removed, but about 10% still retain the exposed half of the kernel, with the kernel‑skin separation not yet achieved, and roughly another 5% remain unshelled. At this stage, technical issues persist that require further refinement or a second pass through the shelling machine.

　　3. Notably, the surface damage to chestnut kernels that previously occurred in similar equipment has been extremely minimal, with only a handful of cases. To ensure that the kernel surfaces remain undamaged, the aforementioned issue of the husk enclosing the kernel has arisen.

　　4. The processing procedure virtually eliminates breakage and fragmentation; even when half‑kernel pieces do occur, they are simply the result of natural splitting of the chestnut kernel.

　　Third, let’s do the math together.

　　1. With an 8-hour workday, it’s possible to process 12 tons of fresh chestnuts. Assuming that, at medium quality, 60% of the chestnuts yield Grade A kernels, this yields 7.2 tons of Grade A kernels. Using our Yanshan Company’s process—slitting the shells first, then roasting and peeling—the processing of 12 tons of fresh chestnuts requires 260 workers, with total wages amounting to RMB 28,000. Based on this year’s processing fee of RMB 4,600 per ton for Grade A products in Zunhua, the wage cost for 7.2 tons of Grade A kernels comes to RMB 33,100. In contrast, using a shelling machine to process 12 tons of chestnuts into 7.2 tons of Grade A kernels would require approximately 120 workers (and if shell‑slitting can be mechanized, labor could be reduced by another 50), with wages totaling RMB 13,200—equating to RMB 1,830 per ton of Grade A kernels. This translates into a wage saving of RMB 2,050 per ton for Yanshan and RMB 2,760 per ton for contract processors. Processing 1,000 tons of Grade A kernels annually would save roughly RMB 2.7 million; even after deducting electricity and steam costs, net savings would still be around RMB 2.4 million. If shell‑slitting were fully mechanized, an additional RMB 600 per ton could be saved in labor costs—a figure hard to ignore.

　　Alright, I won’t boast in front of the elite—let’s move on to the live demonstration. Today, we plan to process 1.5 tons of Funing Zhongli, keeping track of time, electricity costs, and steam flow.

　　Today’s on-site demonstration will be overseen by Technical Director Mr. Zhang Wenwei. For any technical questions, please direct them to him.

　　Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude: there is always room for improvement, and the sky is never the limit. I am confident that each of you here today is a true master—please continue to offer your guidance and help us overcome the challenges that arise in the processing of chestnuts, one by one. Thank you very much! I look forward to your continued support!

　　Now, please welcome Mr. Wang Zhihua, a leading expert in the energy‑based method of chestnut shelling, to share some relevant information with our audience.

　　July 28, 2017