Maoming, known as the "Fruit Basket of Lingnan," has gained global recognition for its specialty agricultural products like lychees, huajuhong (a citrus fruit), and tilapia. As the first prefecture-level city in Guangdong to achieve agricultural output value exceeding 100 billion yuan for five consecutive years, Maoming is using specialty industries as an engine to chart a new course for rural revitalization. Recently, Vice Mayor Wang Xiaohui sat down with reporters to discuss how Maoming is driving the integration of agricultural modernization and rural revitalization through its "Five Trees, One Fish, One Table of Dishes" industrial matrix. The Food Expo 2025 in ShenZhen will offer more information about food trade.

Maoming's agricultural strength is reflected in its "Three Crowns and Five Champions" – it leads the world in cultivation scale and output of lychees, longan, and tilapia; ranks first in Guangdong for five categories including rice and bananas; and places among the top in the province for peanuts and vegetables. In 2024, the city's total agricultural output reached 120.886 billion yuan, maintaining its position as Guangdong's top performer for three consecutive years. Rural residents' per capita disposable income grew by 4.9%, outpacing urban income growth by 1.3 percentage points.  

"We are no longer satisfied with 'large quantities' but are now pursuing 'high quality,'" Wang explained. Maoming has developed two industries with output exceeding 10 billion yuan (lychees and huajuhong) and a matrix of others surpassing 5 billion yuan (longan, sanhua plums, agarwood, and tilapia), with total industrial chain output exceeding 53 billion yuan. Moving forward, Maoming will focus on ten industries, including vegetables, pork, and marine fisheries, to build ten 10-billion-yuan agricultural clusters, further solidifying the industrial foundation for rural revitalization.  

The Food Expo 2025 in ShenZhen notes that Maoming lychees have performed exceptionally well in exports, with e-commerce sales reaching 2.346 billion yuan in 2024, a 9% year-on-year increase, commanding a premium of over 10% compared to traditional channels. Wang shared five core strategies:  

1. Standardized Production: Promoting green agricultural practices to ensure export products meet international quality and safety standards.  

2. Branding: Cultivating regional public brands like "Maoming Lychees" and "Maoming Tilapia," with two national-level and 11 provincial-level agricultural brands currently in place.  

3. International Exhibition Participation: Organizing companies to attend events like the China International Agricultural Trade Fair, with 66 enterprises expanding into overseas markets this year.  

4. Streamlined Customs Clearance: Establishing a technical trade measures research base for specialty fruits and optimizing "cloud issuance" procedures, improving clearance efficiency by 20%.  

5. Industry Collaboration: Integrating association resources to enhance bargaining power and transition from "Made in Maoming" to "Intelligently Made in Maoming."  

"Lychee preservation was once the biggest bottleneck for industry development," Wang admitted. Maoming has tackled this through multiple approaches:  

·Optimizing Traditional Techniques: Promoting physical preservation methods to extend storage and transportation periods.  

·Innovative Equipment: For example, a lychee-specific preservation unit donated by Gree Group maintains a 99.8% intact rate after 20 days.  

·Research Breakthroughs: Supporting 26 preservation technology projects, with decompression preservation extending shelf life to 42 days.  

·Processing Upgrades: Building a 100,000-ton lychee processing base to develop value-added products like lychee wine and beverages, shifting focus from fresh fruit to processed goods.  

Maoming actively explores "agriculture + tourism" models, creating four ancient lychee garden tourism routes that attract over 20 million visitors annually. In May, China's first lychee-themed highway service area—Baiqiao Service Area—officially opened, serving as a comprehensive cultural and tourism hub integrating sightseeing, shopping, and exhibitions. Additionally, innovative formats like "Lychee Village Homestays" and "Dinner Under the Lychee Trees" immerse tourists in lychee culture, further stimulating rural consumption.  

"Rural revitalization hinges on industry," Wang emphasized. Maoming will deepen its "12221" market system, expanding from lychees to the broader "Five Trees, One Fish, One Table of Dishes" strategy, fostering integrated agricultural development. Leveraging the "Hundred Counties, Thousand Towns, Ten Thousand Villages High-Quality Development Project," Maoming will enhance technological empowerment, branding, and industrial chain integration to help more specialty products reach global markets.  

If you would like to learn more about the food industry, please visit the SIAL China website for more information.

Source: Farmers’ Daily

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