The Yantai government launched the Development Plan of the Yantai Apple Industry (2012-2020) in 2013.

The apple industry is Yantai's traditional competitive agricultural industry. Yantai aims at developing a quality, efficient, ecological and modern apple industry. It strives to build a modern production system, a technology-based system, a quality and safety supervision and inspection system, a multi-processing system and an advanced logistics system in a bid to maintain the sustainable and healthy industrial development and lift the profile of the Yantai apple at home and abroad.

Development goals:

By 2020, the apple planting areas are expected to reach 2.8 million mu (186,666.67 hectares), with the total output amounting to 6 million tons and the annual export volume reaching 1 million tons. Yantai aims to build its apple brand as China's top fruit brand and turn Yantai into a high-end apple product base.

Development priorities:

Scientific and technological research and innovation will be enhanced to cultivate fine varieties. Research should be focused on new technologies of virus eradication and detection to breed 30 million-odd virus-free buds each year. Orchard mechanization should be improved to develop new machinery and equipment. By 2020, Yantai will build 200,000 mu (13,333.33 hectares) of mechanized production bases and promote 8-10 types of orchard machinery.

With support from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture, Yantai will focus on the research of industrial and standardized seedling breeding technologies to carry out the scale production of virus-free seedlings, with an annual output of 12 million seedlings. The soil’s organic matter content in orchards and the utilization rate of fertilizers and water are expected to reach 1.5 percent and 30 percent, respectively, by 2020.

High standard demonstration orchards should be built to upgrade production technologies. The construction of standard apple orchards with high quality and good profits should be sped up.

Leading enterprises in fruit storage and processing should be strengthened and enlarged to develop the industrial clusters. Yantai will foster energetic and profitable leading enterprises. It will also set up modern enterprises in fruit storage and preservation and speed up the development of controlled atmosphere storage and cold storage preservation to form a cold chain, which can better preserve fruits and add value to the products. Leading apple processing and storage enterprises, such as Yantai North Andre Juice Co, Penglai Xinyuan Industry and Trade Co, and Longkou Guangyuan Fruit and Vegetable Co, will enhance the intensive fruit processing to add more value to the apple products. The capacity of fruit storage and processing will both reach 4 million tons by 2020.

The fruit professional cooperatives should be supported, and more than 60 percent of fruit growers will join the cooperatives by 2020.

Strengthening the construction of the fruit market information system and improving the logistics network are also important parts of developing the apple industry. Ten large fruit wholesale markets should be set up in Yantai to establish a modern fruit logistics distribution system by taking the Qixia apple electronic trading market and Shewobo fruit wholesale market as examples.

In addition, Yantai should adjust and optimize the export market structure of fruits and processed products. Apart from stabilizing the markets of Southeast Asia, Russia and the Middle East, Yantai should further develop markets of the US, the EU and South Asia as well as accelerate the development of emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and Oceania. It also should organize more enterprises to participate in international exhibitions, explore new markets and promote new products.