Flower industry thrives in SW China's Yunnan

Southwest China's Yunnan Province has become a major producer of flowers in the world. It is home to the largest fresh-cut flower trading market in Asia and the second largest worldwide.

Yunnan produces 18 billion stems of fresh-cut flowers annually, and flowers from the province are exported to over 40 countries and regions.

People visit the Kunming Dounan Flower Market in southwest China's Yunnan Province, Jan. 31, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

Most fresh-cut flowers produced in Yunnan and some surrounding provinces are traded in the Dounan International Flowers Industrial Park in Dounan of the provincial capital Kunming, which accounts for over 70 percent of the fresh-cut flower market in China. The industrial park sells about 30 million fresh-cut flowers of 1,600 varieties under 117 categories every day. It has brought together nearly 1 million flower growers and dealers.

In 2022, the industrial park sold 11 billion stems of fresh-cut flowers with a turnover worth more than 12.1 billion yuan ($1.67 billion), up from 9.2 billion stems worth over 7.4 billion yuan in 2019.

The Kunming International Flora Auction Trading Center (KIFA), located in Dounan, is the largest flower auction market in Asia.

Flower agents can quickly decide whether they should bid for flowers based on information on the varieties, grades, suppliers and prices displayed on a trading screen in the KIFA auction hall.

The latest data from the KIFA showed that since this year's May Day holiday, the average daily supply of fresh-cut flowers for auction exceeded 6 million stems, with the highest single-day supply surpassing 8.5 million stems, an increase of about 20 percent over the same period last year.

The KIFA flower trading index is considered an indicator of prices of fresh-cut flowers across China and has a direct impact on the pricing trend of the national flower market.

With the increasing popularity of trading methods including live streaming e-commerce in recent years, Yunnan has been expanding online sales channels. The province will build an efficient trading system to increase the transaction volume of flowers.

Workers transfer trolleys of flowers at the Kunming International Flora Auction Trading Center in Dounan, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Jan. 31, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

Yunnan has made rapid progress in the protection and development of floral germplasm resources in recent years. It has independently bred over 950 new varieties of flowers, which have been approved by relevant state-level authorities, or registered with provincial-level authorities. New varieties of Chinese roses, chrysanthemums, and hydrangea flowers have become popular in the market, some of which have been registered and promoted in the European Union.

A research and development (R&D) base in Qingshuihe village, Jinning district of Kunming has collected germplasm resources of more than 2,000 types of Chinese roses , including 60 ancient varieties in China.

Li Shubin, a floral expert at the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, led a team to build the base. They have integrated genes of wild and ancient Chinese roses into newly cultivated varieties, creating thousands of new plants that are strongly resistant to pests and low temperatures.

Li's team has helped nearly 200 households in Qingshuihe village boost their incomes, and the first patented flower variety nurtured by the team has been planted in places like Kunming and Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County of Lincang city in Yunnan.

Yunnan issued a three-year action plan to promote the high-quality development of the flower industry (2022-2024) and accelerated its efforts to build its strength in the sector. Yunnan has achieved some initial results in creating a brand effect for its flowers and has seen a gradual increase in brand value and premiums.

The province has also realized the integrated development of the flower industry, agriculture, culture, and tourism.

Dounan is infusing its flower industry into all facets of the tourism sector, including dining, hospitality, entertainment, shopping, and transportation. During this year's May Day holiday, the Dounan Flower Market recorded 100,300 tourist visits.

Focusing on major floral products, technologies and business models, Yunnan is actively cultivating more new business forms and models of the flower industry, building an industrial chain that involves trade, logistics, and R&D of flowers, and integrating industry with tourism, culture, and health.