China aims for annual flower sales of 300 bln yuan by 2025

BEIJING -- China will strive to build an innovation system for its flower seed industry by 2025, with annual flower sales reaching 300 billion yuan ($42.2 billion), according to a recent guideline.

The country will strengthen its germplasm resources data management, facilitate technological advancement in flower breeding, and enhance intellectual property protection in the flower industry, among other measures, according to the guideline jointly issued by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Noting that this is the first guideline targeting the development of the flower industry in China, Jiang Zehui, head of the China Flower Association, said the guideline will facilitate the protection of germplasm resources, accelerate innovation in the flower seed industry and encourage flower-related consumption.

With demand for flowers rising over the years, China has become the world's major flower producer and consumer as well as an important participant in the flower foreign trade.

China's imports and exports of flowers exceeded $700 million for the first time in 2021, up 12.66 percent year-on-year, data from the association shows.

Efforts should also be made to strengthen flower brand building, optimize the industrial structure of the flower industry, and boost professional, large-scale and mechanized flower production, according to the guideline.