Flower trade blossoms in Yunnan

A lady in Bangkok, Thiland (right) catches a flower handed by a flower grower (left ) from China's Yunnan province. (Photo/Xinhua)

Southwestern China’s Yunnan province has witnessed blossoming flower trade in recent years. 8 to 10 million flowers are traded and shipped to over 50 countries and regions in peak seasons, 20 to 30 percent of which are exported to South Asian and Southeast Asian countries.

Yunnan is China’s major flower cultivation center thanks to its favorable temperature and humidity, as well as long daylight hours. Now the Belt and Road Initiative is helping to make it an international flower trading center.

Carnations and roses grown in the province are now in high demand from tropical markets such as Thailand, as it is difficult to plant such flowers in such environments. It takes a mere 40 hours for flowers in Yunnan to be delivered to Bangkok after the Kunming-Bangkok expressway opened to traffic.