Zhanjiang lychees reach Belarus, Qatar for first time

Companies under the jurisdiction of Zhanjiang Customs in South China's Guangdong province have sold lychee to Belarus and Qatar for the first time this year, indicating the city's lychee market has further diversified, according to a statement released by Zhanjiang Customs.

The statement said that Zhanjiang Customs had supervised more than 7,070.6 metric tons of lychee exports valued at 102 million yuan ($14.37 million) to about 10 nations and regions as of July this year.

In addition to Belarus and Qatar, the famous Lingnan (South China) fruit has also been exported to Australia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, and Japan, the statement said.

To promote lychee exports, Zhanjiang Customs established a task force earlier this year that visits local companies and orchards to guide them in monitoring and preventing pest and disease outbreaks.

Meanwhile, the Customs department has opened a green channel for lychee exports to help local enterprises sell more of the fruits abroad, it said.

Located on the Leizhou peninsula, the Zhanjiang and Maoming region in the western part of Guangdong is a major lychee production base.

In Guangzhou, the Guangdong capital, Guangzhou Customs also supervised 2,818.6 metric tons of lychee exports in the first half of the year, up year-on-year 17.6 percent.