China has become the world's largest kiwi producer with its output surpassing that of New Zealand.

The output of kiwi in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, one of the country's major fruit producers, is expected to reach 110, 000 tons this year, accounting for two-thirds of China's total.

Shaanxi is expected to harvest approximately 5.5 million tons of fruit this year, making up 10 percent of China's total. Its fruit output will reach 8 million tons in the next three years.

Some 670,000 hectares of land are presently devoted to fruit growing in Shaanxi Province, which has become the country's fourth largest fruit production base. Its apple output will reach about 4. 5 million tons this year, up over 30 percent from 1998.