Gaozhou, a county-level city in Maoming, is transforming the "small specialty" of longan into a "major industry." Rural vitalization was boosted with the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.

The longan industry is boosting courtyard economies, and Gaozhou is encouraging the development of longan flesh production to enhance industry efficiency and increase farmers' incomes. In the main longan production area of Fenjie town, over 800 courtyard-style longan flesh processing workshops have been established, with an annual output of up to 12,000 metric tons of longan flesh worth around 1.2 billion yuan ($129 million).

Focusing on increasing the added value of products, support is being provided to leading enterprises in the longan industry to develop deep processing techniques. Gaozhou has introduced over 30 deep-processed products, such as longan wine, canned longan, longan tea with ginseng, and longan pastries, with these products selling well both domestically and internationally.

Leveraging the advantages of national agricultural science and technology parks, provincial longan technology demonstration parks, and other platforms, Gaozhou is creating an industrial cluster focused on agriculture, culture, tourism, and innovation. This initiative revolves around "Sweet Fruit Sea Tours" centered on lychee and longan cultural attractions, driving the development of rural homestays, agricultural experiences, study tours, and the rural night economy, economically benefiting 200,000 people.

A Gaozhou Longan promotion tasting event is held in Dongguan. [Photo/Maoming Daily]