Chuxiong, Yunnan, January 12 (Zhang Wenjing and Yin Wencai) -- "Today I'm sharing with you our Yongren winter strawberries. They have a beautiful color and a sweet taste. If you haven't tried them, you must give them a try..." On the 12th, livestream host Yang Jiaqi enthusiastically introduced the strawberries to online viewers in the livestream room. The camera switched freely between the bright red, plump strawberries and the neat, green rows of fields, attracting many netizens to place orders.
Yongren County, located in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, has been a strategic pass for entering Sichuan Province since ancient times. It is rich in sunshine resources, with 2,836 hours of sunshine per year and an average annual temperature of 19.2 degrees Celsius. It is a place where one can escape the summer heat and winter cold, and is known as the "Sunshine City of China".
Workers sort and pack winter strawberries at the Yongpan Logistics Port in Yongren County on December 4, 2025. (Photo by Zhang Wenjing)In recent years, Yongren County has leveraged its advantages in open-field cultivation, promoting Yongren winter strawberries, represented by varieties such as "Qianmei," "Fenyu," and "Xiangye," to a wider market by building an efficient supply chain, improving the production and sales system, and innovating sales models. These strawberries not only sell well in many parts of China but are also exported to countries such as Vietnam and Laos, becoming a highly sought-after "new favorite" in winter.
Currently, Yongren County has 20,000 mu of winter strawberry planting area, with an annual output of about 40,000 tons of fresh fruit and an output value of nearly 400 million yuan, making it an important winter strawberry production area in central Yunnan.
To improve the efficiency of strawberry production and sales, the county has established a centralized purchasing and sorting network centered on the Yongpan Logistics Port, consisting of "one centralized trading platform at the logistics port + five centralized sorting points in townships." This network integrates broker resources and promotes standardized sorting and packaging. By equipping the area with professional pre-cooling warehouses and refrigerated trucks, a seamless "harvesting-pre-cooling-transportation" mechanism has been established, extending the sales radius of strawberries from 200 kilometers to 2,000 kilometers. Now, strawberries picked in the early morning can reach markets across the country the very next day.
In terms of policy, Yongren County has introduced supporting measures for planting, management, and sales, guiding strawberry procurement to be concentrated in logistics ports and standardizing market order. Strawberry cultivation throughout the county has been fully incorporated into the agricultural product quality and safety system, promoting biological pesticides and green pest control technologies, and regularly conducting pesticide residue and quality testing, laying a solid foundation for the healthy development of the industry.
With the rise of e-commerce, live-streaming sales have become an important way to promote the Yongren strawberry brand. The local government has won consumer trust by organizing e-commerce live-streaming competitions, inviting online influencers to promote the strawberries in the orchards, and filming short videos showcasing the origin of the strawberries, all while using authentic scenarios.
"Strawberries grown outdoors have a naturally rich and mellow taste, making them especially popular in live-streaming rooms," said Yang Jiaqi. She added that her online store can receive nearly 400 orders a day during busy periods.
"We are focusing on the entire chain from planting and management to sales, with the ultimate goal of increasing farmers' income and improving the efficiency of the industry," said Li Guofu, director of the Yongren County Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau. He added that the county will next focus on building a framework system for a modern agricultural industrial park covering the entire strawberry region, promoting industrial upgrading with an industrial mindset, integrating resources, standardizing processes, and striving to improve the development quality and efficiency of Yongren's open-field winter strawberries, transforming "Yongren Strawberry" from a regional brand into a nationally renowned brand. (End)
