19th China-Central China Flowers and Trees Trade Exhibition held in Xuchang, Henan Province, China

          The 19th China-Central China Flowers and Trees Trade Exhibition was held in Yanling National Flower and Tree Expo Garden in Xuchang, Henan Province, on the morning of September 26.

          This year's expo, which highlights the revitalization of China's natural environment through good ecology, focused on eight key topics: the opening ceremony, the high-level forum of the floral and forestry industries, various exhibitions and marketing events, a special presentation on the world's most notable flowers and trees, the award ceremony, the investment invitation signing ceremony, the Xuchang ecological and cultural tour as well as several events hosted by corporate sponsors, among others. The expo itself is sponsored by the China Flower Association and hosted by the Henan Forestry Bureau, the Nursery Stock Branch of the China Flower Association, the Henan Flower Association and the Xuchang City Government, with the Yanling County Government and the Xuchang Flower Association as the organizers.

          Yanling County, Henan Province, where the flower fair is being held, is a region that is unique in China due to the environmental and climatic conditions that support the planting and growth of flowers that are normally native either only to the northern part or the southern part of China. With a botany and forestry tradition dating back to the Tang Dynasty, the city is known in China as the "Capital of Flowers" and enjoys the reputation of being the place where the world's most savory wax plum is cultivated. At present, within Yanling County, 450 square kilometers of land are used as the planting area for more than 2400 varieties of flowers and trees.

          In the past 19 years, the flower fair has promoted the improvement in the quality and efficiency of the floral and forestry industries, and achieved the integration of the entire production chain, from planting, harvesting, processing and marketing to selling of the products. In order to improve the region's ecology through responsible botany and forestry, to drive tourism, and to develop prosperous service industries to support tourism, the county has proactively been developing the tourism and healthcare sectors, both of which are low-carbon industries in which the abundance and variety of flowers and trees as well as the local ecology play important roles.