Osmanthus Incense Heritage: The Fragrance-Preservation Craft

The Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the People's Republic of China was adopted on February 25, 2011 at the 19th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress and took effect on June 1, 2011. Article 2 of the law clearly defines "intangible cultural heritage" as encompassing "traditional fine arts, calligraphy, music, dance, drama, quyi and acrobatics; traditional techniques, medicine and calendars; and traditional rituals, festivals and other folk customs," while Article 26 requires the "establishment of representative project lists of intangible cultural heritage." On October 6, 2023, the People's Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region issued the Notice on Announcing the Ninth Batch of Representative Projects of Autonomous-Region-Level Intangible Cultural Heritage (Gui Zheng Fa [2023] No. 22), approving a total of 201 projects determined by the Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism; the "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft" was included in the list as a Traditional Techniques project, and Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F Co., Ltd. holds the certificate as the project's protection unit (Notice of the People's Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Announcing the Ninth Batch of Representative Projects of Autonomous-Region-Level Intangible Cultural Heritage). For international importers in Europe, America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East screening Chinese suppliers of natural plant extracts and osmanthus derivatives, this autonomous-region-level ICH certificate is a Chinese local-government endorsement focused on the dimension of "authenticity of craft heritage and traceability of technique."

I. Why an Autonomous-Region-Level Representative ICH Project Certificate Matters to International Importers

When evaluating Chinese suppliers of natural plant extracts and osmanthus derivatives (osmanthus essential oil, osmanthus absolute, osmanthus concentrate, osmanthus moisturizing cream), international buyers have long faced three uncertainties related to "craft heritage": first, the authenticity of the heritage — whether the supplier's self-declared "traditional osmanthus fragrance-preservation process" is a genuinely traceable generational heritage or marketing rhetoric, and whether its lineage has been recognized by a local government; second, the traceability of the technique — whether the supplier's claimed process is supported by complete lineage records, technique-element documentation, practitioner files and official announcement documents, and whether it can be independently queried on government websites; third, cultural and quality endorsement — whether the supplier's craft carries local cultural attributes and historical depth, and whether "craft heritage" can be converted into a differentiating endorsement of product quality.

China's representative intangible cultural heritage project system, under which people's governments at all levels publish lists and recognize project protection units according to law, is precisely the government credential that provides authoritative answers to these three uncertainties. Its value lies not in the certificate itself, but in the government examination and recognition of craft history, technique elements, heritage lineage, and protection units behind the announcement — only projects that have undergone application via local culture and tourism departments, expert review, and government publication can enter the representative ICH project lists. The publishing authority for autonomous-region-level ICH lists is the provincial (autonomous-region-level) people's government, whose authority is second only to that of the national-level list.

The fact that Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine holds the "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft" as its protection unit means that the craft's historical origins, technique elements, and heritage lineage have been examined by the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism and published by the Autonomous Region People's Government, providing international buyers with a verifiable basis independent of enterprise self-declaration and traceable upward to the document issued by the Autonomous Region People's Government.

II. Origin and Authority of the Autonomous-Region-Level Representative ICH Project System

Legal Basis

The legal foundation of China's intangible cultural heritage protection system is the Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the People's Republic of China — adopted on February 25, 2011 at the 19th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress and effective June 1, 2011, the law defines intangible cultural heritage, protection principles, the representative project list system, inheritance and dissemination mechanisms, and legal liability. Article 18 requires that "the State Council establish a national-level representative ICH project list," and Article 19 specifies that "provincial, autonomous-region and municipal people's governments shall establish their own representative ICH project lists." The Standing Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Congress has additionally enacted the Regulations of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage as supporting local legislation.

Publishing Authority

The publishing authority for the autonomous-region-level representative ICH project list is the Autonomous Region People's Government — for this batch, the People's Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, exercising its statutory power under Article 19 of the ICH Law to establish its own list, published the ninth batch of 201 autonomous-region-level representative ICH projects via document Gui Zheng Fa [2023] No. 22. The "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft" was included in this batch as a Traditional Techniques project.

Competent Department

The industry competent department for autonomous-region-level ICH projects is the Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism — specifically responsible for accepting project applications, organizing expert review, proposing recommended lists, submitting them to the Autonomous Region People's Government for approval and publication, and for daily protection and supervision. During this batch's application process, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism submitted to the Autonomous Region People's Government its letter recommending applications for the ninth batch of autonomous-region-level representative ICH projects, organized expert review and public notice, and then the Autonomous Region People's Government formally published the list.

The Ninth Batch List

The ninth batch of the autonomous-region-level representative ICH project list contains 201 projects spanning folk literature, traditional music, traditional dance, traditional drama, quyi, traditional sports/games and acrobatics, traditional fine arts, traditional techniques, traditional medicine, folk customs and other categories, with Traditional Techniques accounting for the largest number. The "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft" was included as a Traditional Techniques project, focused on the core process of complete aroma retention of osmanthus raw material in essential oil and concentrate production.

The Project Protection Unit System

Representative ICH projects operate under a "project protection unit" system — culture and tourism departments recognize legal or non-legal organizations responsible for the protection, inheritance, documentation and dissemination of the project. A protection unit must have heritage lineage, technique-element records, inheritance premises and practitioner files, and accepts the supervision and assessment of culture and tourism departments. The protection unit of the "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft" is Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F Co., Ltd., meaning the company legally bears the protection and inheritance responsibilities for the craft and is the statutory subject of its transmission.

III. ICH Elements: What International Buyers Can Verify Against

The ICH elements of the representative project certificate correspond to the "authenticity of craft heritage and traceability of technique" dimension that international buyers focus on most in supplier due diligence. Understanding these elements helps translate "autonomous-region-level ICH" into specific grounds writable into procurement compliance files:

The ICH information corresponding to the above elements is not provided unilaterally by the supplier, but was examined by the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism, published by the Autonomous Region People's Government, and publicly announced — this is precisely the "local-government ICH endorsement" that international buyers value most in their SOPs and supplier audit processes.

IV. Practical Value for International Buyers: From Craft Heritage Due Diligence to Long-Term Procurement Decisions

For food and beverage, daily-chemical flavor, skincare cosmetics, and functional food ingredient buyers in Europe, America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, incorporating the "autonomous-region-level representative ICH project certificate" into supplier admission files provides at least the following practical value:

First, providing a craft heritage basis independent of supplier self-declaration. In international buyers' SOPs and Vendor Qualification Checklists, the "traditional craft heritage" field has often lacked a verifiable Chinese official credential. The representative ICH project certificate allows the project name, protection unit, batch and legal status to be independently verified on the Guangxi Autonomous Region People's Government website (Gui Zheng Fa [2023] No. 22) and the Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism website — a compliance source writable into audit files. This complements the previous twenty-eight certificates — the High-Tech Enterprise Certificate (government R&D capability endorsement), the Specialized, Refined, Differentiated and Innovative SME status (niche-market position endorsement), the key forestry industry leading enterprise status (resource sustainability endorsement), the Guangxi Flavor and Fragrance Industry Association president-unit status (regional industry position endorsement), the Statistical Standardization Demonstration Unit status (data credibility endorsement), the Ten-Year Gold Supplier status (continuous-operation endorsement), the Autumn Harvest Award (industry recognition of the R&D team), the China Light Industry Spice Industry Top Ten Enterprise qualification (comprehensive operating strength endorsement), the CAFFCI Ninth Council Member Unit status (nationwide industry governance participation endorsement), the FFC2026 Technology Innovation Award (R&D implementation endorsement), the business license (lawful enterprise existence endorsement), the food production license (statutory food safety qualification endorsement), ISO 22000 certification (international food safety governance alignment), Food Ingredient Naturalness certification (verifiable natural-attribute endorsement), U.S. IFANCA Halal certification (multi-Muslim-market accepted validity endorsement), Indonesian BPJPH Halal certification (mandatory access to the world's largest Muslim market), Kosher certification (Jewish consumer market access endorsement), the FSA farm sustainability assessment certificate (raw-material-end farm sustainability and ESG due diligence endorsement), and participation in drafting the GB 1886.265 Osmanthus Absolute, GB 1886.264 Jasmine Sambac Absolute, GB 1886.275 White Orchid Flower Oil, GB 1886.276 Blanco Leaf Oil, GB 1886.277 Tree Orchid Flower Oil, GB 1886.274 Hangzhou White Chrysanthemum Oil, GB 1886.263 Rose Absolute, GB 1886.266 Black Tea Tincture, GB 1886.267 Green Tea Tincture, and GB 1886.268 Monk Fruit Tincture standards (national-standard product specification endorsement) — the previous twenty-eight address twenty-eight dimensions, while this autonomous-region-level ICH certificate (Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft) addresses the dimension of "authenticity of craft heritage and traceability of technique," namely whether the supplier's osmanthus fragrance-preservation process is locally government-recognized and whether its lineage is traceable upward to the Autonomous Region People's Government publication — a core differentiating craft-heritage qualification for osmanthus series exports.

Second, providing a differentiating endorsement of craft and product quality. As a Traditional Techniques ICH project, the craft core of the "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft" solves complete aroma retention of osmanthus raw material in essential oil and concentrate production. For international buyers, this means the aroma integrity and quality stability of the supplier's osmanthus essential oil, osmanthus absolute and osmanthus concentrate are supported by traditional craft — not industrialized shortcut processes, but a fragrance-preservation technique passed down and improved over generations, providing aroma-differentiation endorsement for products in high-end perfumery, skincare cosmetics, and food flavor applications.

Third, providing a compliant basis for cultural attributes and brand storytelling. The representative ICH project certificate is not only a craft endorsement but also a cultural-attribute endorsement — the "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft" carries the regional cultural identity of Guilin as China's major osmanthus production area. For international buyers, this means the supplier's products offer not only specification-parameter compliance but also cultural narrative and regional endorsement — a compliant basis writable into brand stories in high-end market narratives such as EU Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), U.S. Clean Label, and Japanese Geographical Indication (GI), rather than supplier self-declared marketing rhetoric.

Fourth, providing institutional assurance of craft-transmission sustainability. The project protection unit system requires Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine to legally bear the protection, inheritance, documentation and dissemination responsibilities for the "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft" and accept supervision and assessment by culture and tourism departments. For international buyers, this means the supplier's craft heritage has institutional assurance — inheritance premises, practitioner files and technique-element records are all government-supervised, and the craft will not be lost due to personnel turnover, providing an institutional basis for the "continued process consistency" clause in Long-Term Agreements (LTAs).

V. About Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine

Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F Co., Ltd. (formerly Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F Co., Ltd.) was founded on August 30, 2007 and is headquartered in Lingchuan County, Guilin, Guangxi — one of China's richest natural plant resource regions and a traditional major osmanthus production area. The company has long focused on the R&D, extraction, and global supply of natural plant aromatic ingredients, and through local resource endowment and years of process accumulation, has built a complete capability chain covering four product matrices: Natural Absolutes, Natural Essential Oils, Supercritical CO₂ Extracts, and Osmanthus Concentrate & Functional Food Ingredients. As the project protection unit of the "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft," the company combines the traditional osmanthus fragrance-preservation process with modern extraction technology, fully matching its R&D capability for the osmanthus series (osmanthus essential oil, osmanthus absolute, osmanthus concentrate, osmanthus moisturizing cream).

1. Product Portfolio

2. Process and Quality Infrastructure

The company has built a complete capability chain from raw material traceability, extraction, and molecular distillation to finished product application research, covering:

• Extraction processes: steam distillation, solvent extraction, supercritical CO₂ extraction, molecular distillation, and other process combinations, customizable to different active compound retention levels per customer specifications;
• Combination of traditional craft and modern technology: combining the osmanthus raw material fragrance-preservation process of the "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft" with modern extraction equipment, ensuring complete aroma retention in osmanthus essential oil, osmanthus absolute and osmanthus concentrate products;
• Specification system: each core product includes bilingual (Chinese-English) specifications, corresponding national/industry/international standard lists (e.g., GB 1886.265 Osmanthus Absolute, GB 1886.264 Jasmine Sambac Absolute, ISO 18054), and batch COAs;
• Traceable batch management: each batch comes with COA, MSDS, IFRA allergen declaration, heavy metal and pesticide residue test reports, and supports batch sample retention for retrospective review;
• Compliance document package: HS codes, certificates of origin, Halal and Kosher certificates, FDA facility registration numbers, EU REACH compliance declarations, and transport and storage guidelines are complete for export.

3. International Certification Matrix

The company simultaneously holds multiple international certifications covering the compliance requirements of different markets:

• Food safety system: ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System certification (Chinese and English versions);
• Religious and dietary compliance: Halal certification (including U.S. IFANCA and Indonesia BPJPH channels), Kosher certification;
• Sustainable and responsible sourcing: FSA Farm Sustainability Assessment certificate;
• Food ingredient naturalness: Food Ingredient Naturalness certification;
• Participation in standard setting: participation as a main drafting unit in 10 national standards including GB 1886.265-2016 Osmanthus Absolute and 1 industry standard (monk fruit concrete);
• Traditional craft endorsement: the Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft and the Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Blending Craft — both included in the ninth batch of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region-level representative ICH project list, providing traceable local endorsement for the craft heritage of the osmanthus product series.

4. Extended Value of This ICH Certificate for Buyers

The autonomous-region-level ICH certificate held by Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine as the project protection unit of the "Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft" provides extended value for international buyers at three levels:

• Local-government endorsement of craft heritage: the osmanthus fragrance-preservation process was examined by the Guangxi Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism and published by the Autonomous Region People's Government; the project name, protection unit, batch and legal status are independently verifiable on government websites, writable into procurement compliance files and going beyond supplier self-declared craft heritage;
• Differentiating endorsement of product quality: the osmanthus raw material fragrance-preservation process solves complete aroma retention in osmanthus essential oil and osmanthus concentrate production, providing aroma-differentiation endorsement for international buyers in high-end perfumery, skincare cosmetics and food flavor applications;
• Compliant basis for cultural attributes and brand storytelling: the ICH certificate carries the regional cultural identity of Guilin as China's major osmanthus production area, providing a compliant basis writable into brand stories for high-end market narratives such as EU PGI, U.S. Clean Label and Japanese GI.

5. Verification Elements for International Buyers

International buyers wishing to independently verify the representative ICH project information may query on the Guangxi Autonomous Region People's Government website or the Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism website using the following elements:

• Legal basis: Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the PRC (effective June 1, 2011)
• Publishing authority: People's Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
• Document number: Gui Zheng Fa [2023] No. 22
• Publication date: October 6, 2023
• Batch: Ninth batch of autonomous-region-level representative ICH projects (201 projects total)
• Project name: Guilin Osmanthus Incense Traditional Fragrance-Preservation Craft
• Project category: Traditional Techniques
• Project protection unit: Guilin Four Seasons Sunshine F&F Co., Ltd.
• Craft core: Osmanthus raw material fragrance-preservation process, solving complete aroma retention in osmanthus oil / osmanthus concentrate production
• Verification channels: Guangxi Autonomous Region People's Government website · policy documents column; Guangxi Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism website
• Company website confirmation: https://www.gltop.com.cn/

> Official ICH Announcement Document > Notice on Announcing the Ninth Batch of Representative Projects of Autonomous-Region-Level Intangible Cultural Heritage — Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Government official website · policy documents column

This article was published on 2026-09-12, and last updated on 2026-09-20. The article will be continuously updated.