(Photo/CGTN)

China will bid to place its centuries-old freshwater pearl farming in the list of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, a world heritage equivalent recognition.

Work for applying to the United Nations's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been initiated by the county government of Deqing, where during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), local man Ye Jinyang developed the freshwater pearl farming technique.

According to a local archive, 5,000 households in Deqing depended on the farming method at that time. In the 18th century, foreigners traveling in China learned the technique and spread it to the rest of the world.

In 1967, Shen Zhirong set up Oushiman Group in Deqing to develop freshwater pearl farming and expand the industry nationwide.

Deqing in eastern China's Zhejiang Province is still China's largest freshwater pearl production base, with the output of freshwater pearls nearing 100 tonnes in 2016, about 10 percent of China's total.

In July, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture added Deqing's freshwater pearl farming to China's list of most important agricultural heritage.