The value of this year's Gaozhou lychee purchase orders had exceeded 600 million yuan ($91.68 million) by April 11, and totaled 30,200 metric tons of the fruit, according to data from the Gaozhou bureau of agriculture and rural affairs.

"The fruiting rate of lychees is very good this year," said He Yifeng, general manager of Gaozhou Qiangpai Fruit Co Ltd. "In middle March, domestic and overseas traders began to make inquiries about the lychees. The order amount has exceeded 13 million."

"Because of the large yield of lychees this year, the enthusiasm of farmers in lychee management has also significantly improved, and the quality of lychee will be better than in previous years," added He.

Lychees in Gaozhou are estimated to have had a larger yield this year. [Photo/WeChat account: maofabu]

The output of lychees in Gaozhou this year is estimated to grow by more than 10 percent year-on-year.

Gaozhou, a county-level city in Maoming, began lychee plantation during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-207 BC). It has now become the nation's largest lychee industrial base, with a lychee plantation area of 550,000 mu (36,666.67 hectares) and an annual lychee output of 200,000 tons.

Known as the "lychee hometown of China", Gaozhou has formed a complete lychee industrial chain covering production, processing, warehousing, logistics, cold chain transport, sales, product development, brand creation, and tourism.

Gaozhou is also the national "green prevention and control demonstration city" for crop diseases and pests. It has been strengthening supervision of pesticide applications and standardizing product information QR codes to make lychees safer in quality and more delicious in taste.