Dandong Issues China’s First Strawberry Industry Regulation to Boost High-Quality Development

As strawberry season gets into full swing, Dandong in Liaoning Province, a renowned northern strawberry producing area, has taken a pioneering step by implementing China’s first local regulation focusing on the strawberry industry. 

The Regulations on Promoting the Development of Dandong Strawberry Industry, which came into effect in March, covers the entire industrial chain, including industrial development and support, variety selection and promotion, planting management, circulation and processing, quality safety supervision, and brand building and protection.

This pioneering legislation is far from an overreaction. Dandong has a long history of strawberry cultivation and a large planting area, with the brand value exceeding 40 billion yuan and the total industrial chain output value surpassing 15 billion yuan. 

However, the industry is facing multiple challenges such as seedling degradation, lack of standards and brand counterfeiting. 

Take Dandong’s flagship product, the 99 Strawberry (also known as Hongyan Strawberry), which has suffered from aging seedlings and weakened stress resistance after more than 20 years of planting and promotion, leading some farmers to switch to blueberry cultivation.

As a national geographical indication protected product, Dandong strawberries are renowned for their large size, high sweetness, bright color and strong fragrance, which are closely related to the local geographical conditions and high-quality seedlings. 

Diao Yufeng, Vice President of Liaoning Strawberry Science and Technology Research Institute, explained that Dandong, located in the Liaodong mountainous and hilly area where the Yalu River meets the Yellow Sea, boasts a humid climate, sufficient light and fertile slightly acidic brown soil.