Lychee sales in Maoming rocketed by 473 percent year-on-year during a June 18 online shopping carnival.

Various types of lychees including Guiwei, Nuomici and Baitangying lychees were offered on the online shelves on the day for consumers to buy.

From May 31 to June 18, the cumulative time of the Douyin e-commerce live broadcast was 42.02 million hours and short videos of shopping cart links were played 130.9 billion times, with overall sales increasing by 66 percent year-on-year. Of these, sales of Douyin soared by 177 percent year-on-year.

Maoming's lychees are widely said to be particularly sweet this year, in the wake of plentiful rain and sunshine and as a result, sales were expected to increase significantly.

Furthermore, upgraded sales channels, the introduction of refrigeration to keep the fruit fresh and planting more species have helped boost the market for lychees from Maoming.

Lychee fruit from Maoming has also been shipped overseas and is now present in more than 20 countries and regions in Europe, North America and Southeast Asia. Overseas sales are expected to increase by more than 30 percent year-on-year in 2023, the local government said.

Maoming is the largest lychee production base in Guangdong, with a planting area of nearly 93,000 hectares and an annual output of nearly 600,000 metric tons, accounting for about one-fourth of the country's total.

Maoming's farmers smile because of the latest bountiful harvest of lychees. [Photo/WeChat account: Nanfang Plus]