The total output of lychees in Maoming this year was 591,000 metric tons, producing a yearly output value of 7.12 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), according to the city's bureau of agriculture and rural affairs.

Lychee e-commerce sales amounted to 78,300 tons, accounting for 13.5 percent of the city's total lychee production and a year-on-year increase of 50.6 percent, while e-commerce sales reached 1.81 billion yuan, increasing 50.9 percent year on year.

Maoming has taken a variety of measures to promote lychees this year, including organizing various activities.

The lychee-selling talent competition is held during the second Maoming Rural E-commerce Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition. [Photo/WeChat account: maoming_daily]

The first Guangdong (Maoming) Lychee and Longan Expo took place at the city's civic center from May 20 to 22, while the Maoming lychee regional public brand logo was officially launched on May 22, and the second Maoming Rural E-commerce Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition kicked off on May 26.

In addition, sales models such as "e-commerce + short video" and "e-commerce + livestreaming" were adopted by lychee farmers.

He Qing was one of the earlist group of people in Boqiao village of Gaozhou, a county-level city in Maoming, to promote lychee sales through e-commerce. "A lot of people looked at me differently. My friends were inspired by me, and there were more people selling lychees through e-commerce next year."

The village produced about 20,000 tons of lychees, 50 percent of which were sold out through e-commerce channels.

Officers from Maoming Customs inspect lychees for export. [Photo/WeChat account: maofabu]

The city has been improving its rural infrastructure in recent years. Coupled with the opening of expressways and the upgrading of logistics and distribution service systems, the development of rural e-commerce has been greatly accelerated.

The 439 administrative villages in Gaozhou are all covered by logistics services, and half of them have e-commerce service sites. Logistics costs have been reduced by about 10 percent.

The new logistics model ensures that most lychee orders can be delivered to customers within 24 hours, and logistics fees of 3-kilogram lychees cost only 12 yuan.

Maoming has also been pushing forward cross-border e-commerce exports to promote Maoming fruit to the overseas market.

By June 15, Maoming Customs supervised the export of 1,334.5 tons of lychees, a year-on-year increase of 190 percent, which were exported to 17 countries in Europe, North America and Southeast Asia.