Facilities in Caoxian County, east China’s Shandong Province, are operating at full capacity to sort and process asparagus as the harvesting season is gaining speed. Once processed, canned asparagus will be shipped to dining tables across the globe.

Benefiting from the exceptional cultivation conditions, asparagus in Caoxian County has been recognized as a Geographical Indication product.

According to Zhou Changsheng, manager of an asparagus-processing company in the county, asparagus is the leading export product for the company, with an annual export of approximately 11,000 tons of canned asparagus. Among these, canned white asparagus is primarily exported to Europe, Southeast Asia, and other regions, with export volume accounting for 80 percent of the national total, Zhou said.

Currently, the total planting area of asparagus in Caoxian County has reached 13,333 hectares, with an annual output of 180,000 tons of high-quality asparagus. The county has 24 asparagus processing companies with an annual processing capacity of 190,000 tons, which generates an annual export revenue of 200 million U.S. dollars.

Source: china.org.cn