Two fruit growing areas in China listed as UN heritage sites

Two new areas where fruits are produced in traditional ways in China were listed on Wednesday as heritage sites by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The Kuaijishan ancient torreya community in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, and the Xuanhua grape gardens in Hebei province were named pilot sites of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems program. The program was initiated in 2002 to protect age-old farming processes worldwide, which are at risk of disappearing in the face of rural migration and rapid urbanization.

So far, China has eight pilot sites under the UN program.

The planting of Kuaijishan ancient torreya can be dated back to more than 2,000 years ago, and the oldest tree alive is 1,430 years old.

It is a "living fossil" marking China's height in plant breeding and grafting, Min Qingwen, an agricultural researcher from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said at an awards ceremony on Wednesday in Beijing.

Also, Xuanhua milk grape has a history of more than 1,300 years. The special geographical and natural conditions make the Xuanhua grape one of the best table grape varieties in China.

"To discover such traditional agriculture heritages will help China and the whole world promote sustainable development in the future," said Niu Dun, vice-minister of agriculture.