As the late autumn season sets in, we visited the vibrant flower and seedling trading market in Xiaoqiao Town, Linchuan District, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province. The market was bustling with life, featuring a dazzling array of plants, including money trees, happiness trees, fortune trees, four-season teas, and stone ball shrubs. Locals were joyfully selecting their favorite flowers while chatting with each other.
Yang Dongbo, the market manager and a local entrepreneur, explained their innovative approach: “We’ve adopted a model that integrates businesses, bases, and farmers. With strategies like technology investment and joint management, we’ve successfully scaled up to cultivate over 140 acres of landscape plants, such as red-leaf photinia and shining privet. We sell more than 3 million flower seedlings annually, generating revenues exceeding 5 million yuan.”
In recent years, Xiaoqiao Town, particularly Xiaohuang Village, has invested 2.7 million yuan to prioritize the flower industry as a key development area. The village-run enterprise has focused on unifying land transfer, planning, and planting efforts, which have effectively activated idle land and assets. This initiative has resulted in an annual rental income of 170,000 yuan and collective economic dividends of 200,000 yuan for the village, creating job opportunities for 82 local residents, including poverty alleviation households and other monitored individuals, significantly boosting their income by nearly 20,000 yuan per person.
Known as the “Hometown of Flowers,” Xiaoqiao Town boasts a 30-year history of flower cultivation. Capitalizing on its traditional resources, the town has developed a unique industry centered around the flower and seedling economy, which serves as a new growth engine. The total flower cultivation area reaches over 300 acres, and in 2023, the flower industry generated a value of 20 million yuan.
A representative from the Linchuan District United Front Work Department indicated that they will continue to hold “Three Invitations and Three Returns” symposiums to attract more skilled locals to return and start businesses in their hometown. They plan to promote the development of agriculture-specific industries, such as flowers, black-boned chickens, and rush, employing multiple strategies to drive high-quality economic and social development in the Linchuan District and paint a beautiful picture of rural revitalization.
