Vietnam strives to export more lychees to China

Facing a lean harvest but enjoying good prices, Vietnam's litchi growing hub is intensifying cultiva…

Facing a lean harvest but enjoying good prices, Vietnam's litchi growing hub is intensifying cultivation of the succulent fruit in accordance with international standards, and exporting half of its output to China.

On Wednesday, an official from Bac Giang's Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development told Xinhua that the northern province is encouraging more local farmers to grow litchi trees according to GlobalGAP or VietGAP, and promoting the fruit both at home and abroad.

"On June 8, we held a litchi sales promotion conference in Pingxiang in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. We hope that in Guangxi, our special 'thieu' litchi will win consumers' hearts," said the official.

Bac Giang is this year maintaining the export of both fresh and processed litchis, Duong Van Thai, vice chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said, noting that most of the fresh litchi is exported to China.

Some 40,000 tons of fresh litchi, or 80 percent of the fruit's output earmarked for export this year, will go to China. Other export markets include other Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, and some faraway ones, including the United States and Australia.

Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang's biggest litchi growing area, is forecast to produce some 100,000 tons of litchi in 2017, down one-third compared to 2016, said Cao Van Hoan, vice chairman of the Luc Ngan People's Committee.