The 2021 China Lychee Industry Conference kicked off in Maoming, South China's Guangdong province, on May 19.

The two-day event, which ends today, is being jointly hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' South Subtropical Crops Center, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Maoming municipal government.

The event is expected to be built into a platform for displaying lychees, giving a boost to lychee culture, helping increase the incomes of lychee farmers and promoting rural revitalization.

A large billboard for the 2021 China Lychee Industry Conference is set at the Baotou-Maoming Expressway exit. [Photo/WeChat account: maofabu] 

The annual meeting of the lychee standardized production demonstration park union was also organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs during the event.

Renowned experts and scholars in the lychee industry, representatives of lychee industry R&D and promotional units, and representatives of lychee production, sales and processing enterprises from around the country were invited to the conference to air their opinions on the development of the lychee industry.

In addition, 10 new scientific research achievements of the national lychee industrial technology system were released at the conference's opening ceremony, along with the unveiling of the Maoming (International) Lychee Trading Center, the launch of the Guangdong field storage, sorting and cold chain logistics demonstration project, as well as the release of the regional Maoming lychee public brand.

The national lychee genetic resources center was also introduced during the conference. It integrates functions including scientific research, sightseeing, education, and demonstrations. It covers an area of 535.8 mu (35.72 hectares) and gathers more than 700 genetic lychee resources from the seven major domestic lychee producing areas and 11 foreign countries.

An exhibition of the lychee industry's achievements and an orchard mechanization exhibition were carried out in order to display the progress made in terms of the lychee industry's integrated development. An exhibition of lychee products gathered both fresh lychees and processed lychee products from all over the country.