ANN/CHINA DAILY – Plums from Payzawat county in Kashgar, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous province, had their export debut last month when they were delivered to Malaysia. The European plums growing in Xinjiang are also known as Xinmei.
Payzawat county is Xinmei’s biggest producing region, comprising 30,000 hectares.
According to official data, it accounts for 40 per cent of overall production in the nation and provides 60 per cent of total output.
It takes 15 days to convey Xinmei from Kashgar to Malaysia. The fruit is first carried to the Shenzhen port in cold chain transport vans before being exported to Malaysia.
As of Aug 21, 17 Xinmei orchards in Kashgar have applied for export qualifications, with an estimated production of over 9,000 metric tonnes. Fruit products can be exported to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, including Malaysia and Singapore.
To improve the quality of the Xinmei sector, Payzawat county built the Guangdong-Payzawat Xinmei Industrial Park in Yingmailiu town in 2021. Covering an area of 243,000 square metres, the park includes four main functional areas: research and training area, demonstration area, cold chain warehousing, logistics and intelligent sorting area, as well as a deep processing and packaging area.
This industrial park has played a significant role in promoting the integration of all elements of the Xinmei sector in Payzawat, and has laid the foundation for the development of a comprehensive chain, integrating production, education, research, and the convergence of primary, secondary and tertiary industries.
Having received training, 70-year-old villager Abliz Karim from Yingmailiu town had a bountiful harvest this year. His 1.13 hectares orchard, now in its ninth year, produced high-quality fruit with a yield of around four tonnes per mu (0.067 hectare).
“This year marks the fourth year since my Xinmei trees started bearing fruit. In the first year, I sold them for CNY5,000 (USD685), in the second year for CNY140,000, in the third year for CNY170,000. This year, my Xinmei trees brought in CNY850,000. In the future, I will continue to manage my Xinmei orchard well, aiming for an annual income exceeding CNY1 million,” said Abliz.
