Guangxi exports first batch of lychee overseas in 2021

A 1,000 kilogram batch of lychees from Qinzhou's Lingshan county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, arrived in Nanning on May 30, from where they will be exported to Canada, making them the first batch of fresh Guangxi lychees to be exported in 2021.

The lychees were packaged for refrigeration after being picked up on May 29.

Officials from Lingshan's agriculture and rural affairs bureau noted that subsequent batches of lychees, weighing three metric tons, will leave for Malaysia, Singapore and Canada's Toronto on June 3. 

"Many foreign people come to Lingshan to taste lychees every year during the harvest season, and this has effectively promoted Lingshan lychees," said Zhang Shansong, general manager of a local agricultural company that grows lychees.

"The successful export of Lingshan lychees will encourage local farmers to take a more active part in growing better products," added Zhang. 

Lingshan county, which enjoys the reputation of "the county of Chinese lychees", has a long lychee plantation history of more than 2,000 years. The oldest lychee tree in Lingshan is more than 1,500 years old.

At present, the lychee plantation area in Qinzhou amounts to around 1.1 million mu (73,333 hectares) and the number of standard lychee orchards stands at 82.

It is expected that the annual lychee production of Qinzhou in 2021 will reach 420,000 metric tons, up 27.78 percent year-on-year, making the city Guangxi's largest - and China's second largest - lychee production base.