Cold hits orange crop hard in Jiangxi

The bitter cold snap that swept the nation in recent days caught many orange growers at midharvest in one of China's major fruit production areas, where more than 50 farmers faced the possibility of total crop failure.

Temperatures fell to historic lows in several provinces in South China over the weekend, including Jiangxi province, where in Huichang county more than 1 million kilograms of oranges and grapefruits were still hanging on the trees when freezing rain struck.

The county, dubbed China's "home of oranges and grapefruits" by the China Fruit Marketing Association, has a yearly production capacity of more than 5 million kilograms of oranges and grapefruits.