E-Commerce Boom Helps Wushan Plums Hit Record Sales

Chongqing - With expanded e-commerce and export channels, Wushan in Chongqing nearly sold out its crisp plum harvest by mid-August, with 140,000 tons bringing in 1.4 billion yuan—10% more than last year and a new record.

In May, Wushan County said the “Wushan Crisp Plum” brand exceeded 10 billion yuan in value, topping Chinese plum brands for seven straight years.

The Wushan County Commission of Commerce said it has expanded e-commerce service points alongside the industry’s growth, nurturing over 300 local distributors and 800 e-commerce firms, while forging partnerships with JD.com, SF Express and Douyin.

Dedicated wholesale sections and brand stores have been set up in major markets across the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Chengdu-Chongqing-Wuhan region, ensuring a broader reach for the fruit.

At a shipping point in a standardized orchard in Quchi Township, livestreamers shout into their cameras: “Freshly picked Wushan crisp plums! One bite, full of juice, everyone says they’re the best!” Behind them, the order chimes ring nonstop as workers sort and box the fruit into cartons stamped with the plum’s logo. 

With 800 e-commerce businesses and 2,000 micro-merchants, a powerful sales network brings the fruit into households nationwide. 

“In the past, I sold to local traders for at most 8 yuan per half-kilo. Now, by selling directly through online platforms to customers in Shanghai and Guangzhou, I earn 15 to 20 yuan. Double the income!” said 60-year-old farmer Liu Xuhai. After training, he now takes orders by phone and can even greet foreign customers in simple English on camera.

Exports are also accelerating. In late July, more than a ton of plums cleared customs inspections and were shipped via cold chain to Wellcome supermarkets in Hong Kong. At an export warehouse, customs district officers conducted sampling and food safety tests prior to departure. 

“With controlled-atmosphere pre-cooling and cold-storage boxes, we keep plums fresh for 72 hours at 0–1°C with 90% humidity, cutting losses from 15% to below 3%,” said Wang Chenyu, general manager of a company in a standardized orchard in Quchi Township.

Since July 5, Wanzhou Customs District has launched a special action plan to support plum exports, strengthening monitoring of pests like gray mold and aphids. A “green channel” ensures fast customs clearance with priority inspections and certification.

No plum goes to waste in Wushan

“Wushan is China’s ‘hometown of crisp plums.’ After years of development, our plums have won the national premium fruit gold award, and the quality is guaranteed,” said Cao Bangxing, Party Secretary of Wushan County, at a promotional event in Beijing this July. Local officials have taken on the role of “salespeople” for the plums, leading delegations to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Yantai for tasting events and trade fairs.

Extending the industrial chain is now key. “To maximize value, we are developing deep-processing products so that every plum, including substandard ones, is put to use,” said Zhang Xun, deputy director of the Wushan Fruit Industry Development Center. In cooperation with Ludong University and Yantai University, Wushan has launched plum drinks, jams, mooncakes, and more than 10 other products.

“Even the small fruit that couldn’t be sold before can now make money,” said villager Ms. Wang while packing dried plums. A new wine production line processes 400 tons of secondary fruit a day into premium plum wine, while dried fruit and skincare lines turn plums into snacks and cosmetics.

Plans also include a national digital trading center for Wushan plums, with projected transactions above 5 billion yuan, positioning its “industry brain” at the forefront of China’s digitized fruit sector. 

A national modern agricultural industrial park is also in the works, aiming to raise annual farmer incomes above 100,000 yuan and help 31,000 households. Altogether, the industry’s full value chain is expected to reach 10 billion yuan.