Baoshan City, Yunnan Province, southwest China - Recent (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of range orchards
2. Various of farmer harvesting oranges
3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese, dubbed in English) Li Dequan, general manager, Yunnan Xiagu Mingzhu Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. (starting with shot 2/ending with shot 4):
"Many trees have grown up and are beginning to bear fruits. More importantly, we standardized our crop management. Next year's output is likely to increase to 10-thousand tonnes."
4. Various of farmer harvesting oranges
5. Various of oranges, farmer walking while carrying basket of fruit
6. Farmer emptying basket
7. Various of fruit being packed, transported, washed
8. SOUNDBITE (Chinese, dubbed in English) Li Dequan, general manager, Yunnan Xiagu Mingzhu Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. (starting with shot 7/partially overlaid with shot 9):
"We started exporting around 40 days earlier than last year. The amount has also grown, from one container each day last year to three or four containers. The sales prices have also gone up."
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9. Various of boxes of fruit, workers
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10. Various of workers packing fruit
11. SOUNDBITE (Chinese, dubbed in English) Qi Fuqing, villager (starting with shot 10/partially overlaid with shot 12):
"Before we rented our farmland to this company, we didn't have a stable income from our own farming. Now we can earn at least 300 dollars each month by working in the orchard. During the harvest season, that income can be tripled if we work hard."
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12. Various of worker placing stickers on oranges
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13. Various of farmers picking coffee beans
14. Various of coffee beans
15. SOUNDBITE (Chinese, dubbed in English) Zhao Xiujuan, coffee farmer :
"We see a good selling price this year, about 22 yuan per kilo. I'm very confident for the industry's future development."
16. Various of people working on coffee farm

Rural development is a key priority for China’s government and, following the relaxation of COVID restrictions, the agricultural sector is bouncing back across the nation.

Distinctive local foodstuffs, such as the citrus fruit grown in orchards in Baoshan City in southwest China's Yunnan province, are increasingly popular in China and overseas.

This orchard in Baoshan is yielding a bumper crop of oranges and the owner expects to harvest more than 6,000 tonnes, double last year’s yield.

"Many trees have grown up and are beginning to bear fruits. More importantly, we standardized our crop management. Next year's output is likely to increase to 10-thousand tonnes," said Li Dequan, general manager of Yunnan Xiagu Mingzhu Agricultural Development Co., Ltd.

Benefiting from favorable natural conditions and abundant labor, the company started citrus fruit farming in 2017 on 220 hectares of rented farmland.

The fruit is mainly exported to South and Southeast Asian countries like Bangladesh, Thailand and the Philippines.

Li says the company’s business was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic during the past few years, but they now see many reasons to be optimistic.

"We started exporting around 40 days earlier than last year. The amount has also grown, from one container each day last year to three or four containers. The sales prices have also gone up," said Li.

The international success of the citrus fruit enterprise has had knock-on benefits for local residents.

"Before we rented our farmland to this company, we didn't have a stable income from our own farming. Now we can earn at least 300 dollars each month by working in the orchard. During the harvest season, that income can be tripled if we work hard," said villager Qi Fuqing.

Baoshan is also known for its Arabica coffee plantations thanks to its suitable climate and elevation. Coffee beans grown here are becoming ever more popular with consumers from different countries.

The local agricultural department estimates that the yield of coffee beans this year will be around 20,000 tonnes.

"We see a good selling price this year, about 22 yuan per kilo. I'm very confident for the industry's future development," said Zhao Xiujuan, a coffee farmer in Baoshan.

As China pushes ahead with its rural development strategy, these specialty food industries are expected to benefit from supportive government policies and a growing appetite for their produce.