The 8th China Strawberry Congress and 13th China Strawberry Festival is held in Changfeng County of Hefei, Anhui province, on Feb 17.[photo/safea.gov.cn]

The 8th China Strawberry Congress and 13th China Strawberry Festival was held in Changfeng County of Hefei, Anhui province, on February 17.

A foreign expert attends the strawberry exhibition at the festival.[photo/safea.gov.cn]

The festival was themed “Innovation, Health, Sharing”, and aimed to exhibit the development of talent introduction work of the strawberry industry in Changfeng County and promote cooperation and upgrading of the industry.

Experts from home and abroad attend the strawberry fesitval.[photo/safea.gov.cn]

The festival is held every four years, attracting experts from home and abroad. It offered exhibitions of strawberries in China, promotion and academic reports of strawberries, and forums on industry development. The achievements of the strawberry industry were displayed along a strawberry cultural avenue, and in a “new equipment, new technology, new varieties” exhibition park, the Changfeng strawberry museum, and a strawberry painting and calligraphy exhibition.

The county has been introducing foreign experts from Israel, US, Japan, and Spain to help solve technological problems in cultivating strawberries. Changfeng now has over 1.4 billion square meters of plants producing 350,000 tons of strawberries every year, with an output value of $654 million. There are over 80,000 families planting strawberries in Changfeng, providing job opportunities for 170,000 people. The Changfeng strawberry is a well-known agricultural product, with a brand value of over $458 million.