A rare wild ginseng weighing 500 grams was recently exhibited in Changchun, northeast China’s Jilin Province, which, experts say, is the heaviest of its kind ever found in the world, China News reported on Jan. 8.

The ginseng was dug out in Lesser Khingan Mountains by a farmer in August 2017 and purchased by a Jilin-based company.

The giant ginseng is thought to be about 200 years old. Although its accurate value is unknown, it could be more precious than a 260-gram one that was auctioned at the price of 9 million yuan ($1.38 million) in Wuzhen, east China’s Zhejiang Province, in December 2017.

There are now dozens of kilograms of wild ginsengs in China and about 6 kilograms of such ginsengs are sold in the domestic market each year, according to statistics.

Due to its rarity and high medicinal and research value, the ginseng will be studied in order to develop new ginseng varieties.