The coastal city of Yantai in Shandong province is now renowned as an international center of fruit cultivation and processing with exports to more than 60 countries and regions.

During the 14th Fruit and Vegetable Fair earlier this month, thousands of participants from more than 10 countries and regions including France, Japan, South Korea and Cambodia, and 525 organizations and companies from home and abroad came to the host city to seek business opportunities at the fair showcasing around 1,000 kinds of fruits and more than 3,000 fruit and vegetable-related food and beverage products.

Yantai's own products were a highlight of the event, led by its apples, which have been given geographic indication status by the State Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine Administration.

Its apple GI trademark was valued at 9.2 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in 2011, ranking among top fruit brands in China, according to a report by a research center for Chinese agricultural brands.

Statistics from the local agriculture bureau show 176,000 hectares of apple cultivation in Yantai yielded 4.56 million tons last year, 11 percent of the country's total.

Another signature product of the city is wine.

With favorable climate conditions at almost the same latitude as Bordeaux in France, Yantai is considered one of the world's top seven coastal grape growing areas. The city now has 18,000 hectares of vineyards, 11,000 hectares of it providing grapes for winemaking.

It is home to more than 20 international wine businesses and a large number of domestic vintners including leading brands Changyu, Great Wall and Dynasty.

Cherries are another famed branded fruit from Yantai, where the planting of trees began 130 years ago. More than 24,000 hectares of cherry trees are under cultivation that now produce some 190,000 tons a year. The fruit is exported to more than 60 countries and regions.

Every year, more than 2 million tons of fruit grown in Yantai are processed into over 100 varieties of products such as juice, jam, canned and preserved fruit, and pectin. The city government plans to call for 280,000 hectares of fruit cultivation by 2015.

With prowess at farming and processing, local agricultural companies have expanded abroad. The latest overseas operation is a modern agricultural project in Cambodia. Jointly developed by Shandong Lurui Group and Yantai Blue Sky Development Co, the Hengrui Park is expected to require a total investment of 160 million ($2.61 million) yuan. A Cambodian delegation headed by Sihanoukville Governor Sboang Sarath attended the 14th Fruit and Vegetable Fair that began in Yantai on Sept 26 to woo more investors.

Shen Chen, chairman of Lurui, said the park has been named as a national demonstration base for modern agriculture by the Cambodian government. The 3,100-hectare park is designed to include a 600 hectares of tropical fruit, 2,000 hectares of quality rice and 300 hectares for other agricultural products. It will also include processing, real estate development and logistics.

"Cambodia is a country that has large expanses of crops, but it is weak in processing agricultural products, providing great opportunities for us," said Shen.

Organizations that have signed on for cooperation with the park to teach planting and processing techniques include the Research Institute for Agricultural Product Processing at the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, the Guangxi Research Institute of Subtropical Crops and the Research Institute of Rice at the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

More than 200 Yantai-based companies had expanded their business to overseas markets by the end of last year, according to statistics from the Yantai Commerce Bureau. The projects cover dozens of fields including machinery manufacturing, auto parts, textiles and clothing, real estate development and hotel services in more than 50 countries and regions.

Contact the writers at juchuanjiang@chinadaily.com.cn and zhaoruixue@chinadaily.com.cn

Yantai apples on display at a recent agricultural exhibition. The fruit has been granted geographic indication trademwark status. Ju Chuanjiang / China Daily