The floral industry in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, the country's leading flower grower, generated 4.2 billion yuan (US$506 million) in output value in 2003 and earned US$30 million in foreign exchange from exports, according to the provincial association of floral enterprises.

Yunnan produced some 3 billion flowers in 2003, maintaining its position as the largest flower producer in China for 10 consecutive years.

The province exported a record 38.6 million flowers in 2003, accounting for 45 percent of the country's total flower exports.

In the last five years, local flower exports grew by 35 percent annually.

More than 20 kinds of flowers grow locally, including carnations, forget-me-nots and lilies, and are mainly exported to Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Canada, and Holland.

Favorable geographic and topographic features create good conditions for the local floral industry, which has been faring well under the development of diversified products and under coordinated structural and market systems.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2004)