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Hometown grape industry becomes profitable

By MO JINGXI and HU MEIDONG | China Daily | Updated: 2020-08-20

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Liu Dexing thins grapes at a plantation in Xianghuan village of Fu'an city, Fujian province, in May. He helped local grape growers with techniques to harvest grapes for a better price. CHINA DAILY

The decision to close a profitable dumpling restaurant several years ago in the most expensive central business district in Fuzhou, Fujian province, was not easy for Lai Chunyan and her husband Liu Dexing.

"Our business was doing well because we'd already used the internet to promote our restaurant to receive more orders," Lai said.

She had worked on game development and operation at an internet company for several years after graduating university in computer science in 2009. Liu was a schoolmate majoring in mathematics.

But going back to Liu's hometown in Xianghuan village of Fu'an city seemed to be the only choice after their fathers got sick in succession and Lai was pregnant with their second child.

Fu'an, renowned as the grape city in southeastern China, produces 85,000 metric tons of grapes annually throughout 129 villages.

Nearly 120,000 people in Fu'an are engaged in grape-related industries.

However, the couple noticed that despite decades of development since 1984, there was not one single brand created for grapes produced in Fu'an, which meant that the grapes could only be sold at a relatively low price.

They decided to seize this opportunity by setting up a company to sell Fu'an grapes.

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