On October 16th, the third China Apple Production and Sales Summit and the “Jingning Apple” Industry High-Quality Development Investment Promotion Conference kicked off in Jingning County, Pingliang City, Gansu Province, showcasing a variety of apples and apple products, including giant apples, apple beverages, and apple chips.
“The Jingning apple is distinctive and high-quality, representing a natural and healthy fruit. It’s also widely cultivated and economically beneficial, making it a fruit that enriches farmers. Plus, it has a strong brand and market presence, promising a bright future for the industry,” said Wang Xu, Secretary of the Pingliang Municipal Party Committee. He highlighted that the apple cultivation area in Pingliang has stabilized at around 1.5 million acres, with a total output value exceeding 12 billion yuan. The region has maintained the highest average selling price for apples in the country for 18 consecutive years, with farmers earning over 7,500 yuan in pure income per capita from fruit.
The local community has pinned its hopes for prosperity on apples. After a challenging journey of exploration, demonstration projects, and large-scale development, they have carved out a path of integrated ecological and economic growth, currently featuring two high-quality apple production zones. Located in the “golden apple production belt,” Pingliang benefits from distinct seasons, deep soils, ample sunlight, high altitudes, significant temperature differences, and low pest occurrences, which create ideal conditions for producing high-quality apples with excellent coloration and sugar accumulation. The locally produced apples are noted for their large size, smooth and vibrant skin, crisp sweetness, and rich aroma.
“Jingning apples are among the best of China’s many apple brands. Jingning County is committed to high-quality development in the apple industry, a journey that has attracted attention across the country and drawn merchants eager to learn,” remarked Yang Jie, Director of the Industry Department at the National Apple Engineering Technology Research Center, in an interview. He noted that Jingning apples are celebrated for their beautiful appearance, strong flavor, and superior quality. Despite their higher price, they offer exceptional value. As one of the major apple-producing areas, Jingning plays a demonstrative role in apple harvesting and market guidance. “I suggest that Jingning enhances its focus on apple exports in the future, improving equipment and marketing expertise to foster an industrial cluster,” he added.
During the conference, they held a signing ceremony for investment projects and fruit sales agreements. Pingliang signed 24 investment projects with well-known enterprises nationwide, totaling 6.8 billion yuan; they also finalized 180 fruit sales agreements amounting to 4.4 billion yuan.
The Jingning apple showcase featured green fruits, organic apples, deep-processing products, agricultural machinery, and production technologies, collectively illustrating the achievements in breeding, scientific planting, efficient management, in-depth processing, and cold chain storage across all production phases.
Under the theme of “Empowering Technology, Driving Brands, Upgrading the Supply Chain, Revitalizing the Industry,” this event aimed to establish a collaborative platform, expand apple sales channels, showcase industrial development achievements, and enhance the reputation and influence of “甘味” Jingning apples, accelerating the high-quality development of the apple industry.
