By WU JIANHUA

Fujian produces the most tea in China.

Southeast China's Fujian Province is situated in prime real estate for agriculture. It borders Zhejiang Province to the north, Guangdong to the southwest, Jiangxi to the northwest, and directly faces Taiwan across the Taiwan Straights. Extending across middle and south subtropics to the coast, the area has advantages in cultivation and convenient transportation to the Korea Peninsula, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Developed Agriculture

Fujian has developed industrial crop planting, and is China's largest tea producer, having an annual output of 150,000 tons. The province also produces 80 percent of China's wulong tea and its annual edible fungus production is 490,000 tons, one sixth of the country's total.

In 2003, Fujian's fruit output reached 4.417 million tons, ranking sixth in China; the per capita fruit output was 127 kilograms, ranking second. The area's fresh fruit export ranked first in China. The region also produces much of the country's loquats, olives, longans, lychees and bananas.

Mountains and hills cover 80 percent of Fujian, leading to its abundance in rice, fruits, tea, vegetables and industrial crops. As southern China's key forest zone, Fujian is 60.5 percent forest, the highest percentage in China. This 7.3537 million-hectare forest has earned the province the nickname "green treasure-house."

Reform and opening up has boosted Fujian's rural development. Since the 1990s, the rural economy has developed in leaps and bounds. In 2003, Fujian achieved a total output value of 114.49 billion yuan for its agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishing industries. Of the four industries, its tea production has entered an advanced development stage, and tea prices have increased accordingly. Animal husbandry continues to develop steadily, and accounts for an increasing percentage. The poultry industry's egg export volume leads the country.

Wu Jianhua (left), head of Fujian Department of Agriculture, inspects agricultural production in Fujian.

Organic foods are also making a steady rise in the region. Fujian is relatively pollution-free, and as a result, 248 organic products are now officially recognized as being "green" or free from artificial hormones or pesticides. Industries also strive for the green label, and at present 220 production bases have pollution-free certification. Two Fujian counties rank among the "National Advanced Counties" for their contributions to the green market.

Industrial Road

Favorable geographical conditions and climate make Fujian a perfect place to develop industrial crops. Industrial farming is the number one agricultural industry, and has so far greatly contributed to foreign exchange. Most rural household incomes come mainly from industrial crop planting, which has become a new growth point of the rural economy. In 2003, industrial crop output value reached 35.9 billion yuan, and through export of fruits, vegetables, tea and edible fungus, it earned foreign exchange of US $580 million, making up 44.6 percent of the total agricultural and by-product export volume. Its vegetable exports ranked third in China, fruit exports fifth, tea exports second, and edible fungus exports number one.

At present, 16 key production bases have been established in Fujian for longans; lychees; bananas; mandarin oranges; olives; shaddocks; plums; wulong, green and jasmine tea; edible fungus; asparagus; narcissi and potted plants.

Fujian boasts rich industrial crop varieties, and after years of effort, it has developed a batch of high quality products that are well known throughout the world. Apart from increasing output volume, it has tried to optimize the product structure by developing new, famous and high quality varieties. As a result, its products have been diversified, accentuating regional characteristics.

Since ancient times, Fujian has cooperated with Taiwan to develop agriculture. In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, people moved to Taiwan from Fujian, carrying with them seeds, saplings and farming technology. This laid the foundation for Taiwan's agriculture.

In recent years, more and more Taiwanese have come to Fujian to invest. This has led to fruitful Fujian-Taiwan agricultural cooperation. There are now 1,500 Taiwan-funded agricultural enterprises in Fujian, with an investment volume of US $1.1 billion.

Fujian has introduced 1,500 horticultural varieties and agricultural production technology from Taiwan. In 1997, Fuzhou and Zhangzhou were chosen as agricultural cooperation experimental areas and now play a key role in Fujian-Taiwan cooperation. With fine varieties, advanced technology and equipment introduced from Taiwan, Fujian's industrial crop production has greatly improved. Fujian has introduced advanced planting, processing and preserving technology from Taiwan, and the introduction of 20 quick-frozen fruit and vegetable production lines brought reform to traditional processing. Traditional methods of drying, pickling, and freezing have been replaced by advanced methods.

Fujian is devoting great efforts towards realizing agricultural industrialization, and during the process, a number of excellent enterprises have emerged, setting an example for others. Industrialization has been achieved, as rough machining is being replaced by precision machining, and products are sold to the international market. Fujian is reforming its traditional agriculture, and has begun to earn foreign exchange by setting up enterprises and developing agricultural products processing.