On June 15, the 22nd China (Guangxi) Lychee and Longan Production and Marketing Matchmaking Event and the 2024 Guangxi Lingshan Lychee Cultural Tourism Festival opened in Lingshan county, organized by the agricultural authorities of Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Hainan.

The event brought together 27 planting enterprises, cooperatives, and large-scale growers from 14 major lychee and longan producing counties, cities, and districts in Guangxi, along with a total of 29 lychee and longan production, processing, and distribution enterprises from Guangdong, Fujian, and Hainan provinces, as well as representatives of distribution enterprises from Henan, Jiangsu, Beijing, and other regions for product exhibitions, promotions, and marketing negotiations.

The on-site production and marketing matchmaking contracts amounted to 437 million yuan ($60 million), with Guangxi signing contracts worth 147 million yuan, Guangdong 120 million yuan, Fujian 90 million yuan, and Hainan 80 million yuan.

Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Hainan are the main lychee and longan producing regions in China, accounting for over 90 percent of the national output. Since 2003, the agricultural departments of the four regions have been implementing cross-regional cooperation, taking turns organizing lychee and longan sales negotiations and ordering meetings, linking scattered farmers with supermarkets and other end markets, and building an interactive platform for production and marketing connections.

According to the introduction, in 2023, Guangxi's lychee orchards covered an area of 2.35 million mu (156,667 hectares), with a lychee production of 960,000 metric tons, ranking second in the country in terms of both area and production.

The longan orchards, meanwhile, covered an area of 1.3 million mu, with a longan production of 690,000 tons, also ranking second in the country in terms of both area and production.