Chongqing—On December 12, Asia's largest citrus sorting facility officially commenced operations in Zhongxian County, Chongqing, within the modern agricultural citrus industrial park.

The citrus sorting facility within the modern agricultural citrus industrial park officially begins operations on December 12 in Zhongxian County, Chongqing. (Photo/Yu Hong)

The industrial park, a major food and agricultural product processing project for Chongqing, represents a total investment of 2 billion yuan (about 275 million U.S. dollars) and spans 500 mu (about 33.3 hectares). Construction began in March this year, with plans to establish a smart logistics hub, a digital citrus sorting facility, and an advanced NFC juice processing plant.  

The project's first phase has already completed a 56,000-square-meter steel-frame facility, including the 36,000-square-meter sorting center, which has now entered operation. This facility, the largest of its kind in Asia, is designed to provide comprehensive services for citrus producers, including sorting, packaging, and export trade.  

“The sorting facility enables the washing, grading, and packaging of fresh citrus fruits,” explained Gao Fangjin, a local official. “As the park continues to attract upstream and downstream citrus industry enterprises, it will help consolidate resources and enhance Chongqing’s citrus processing capabilities.”  

Once fully operational, the park is expected to process 500,000 tons of citrus annually, store up to 320,000 cubic meters in cold storage, and achieve an annual output value of 5 billion yuan (about 687 million U.S. dollars). It is also set to create over 1,000 jobs.  

In a related development, the Chongqing Three Gorges Citrus Trading Center was also officially launched on the same day. On the same day, a shipment of 60 tons of "Zhongxian Orange" departed Zhongxian County via the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor Cross-Border Highway Regular Lorry service, destined for Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, and other ASEAN countries.  

Workers are busy with production inside the facility. (Photo/Yu Hong)

“Zhongxian County is the only nationally recognized citrus production market co-developed by provincial and national authorities,” Gao noted. “Both the trading center and the modern agricultural citrus industrial park are integral components of this market.”  

The trading center covers seven major citrus-producing provinces across China and aims to build a comprehensive platform integrating trading, information, logistics, financing, processing, and traceability services.  

The center has established a “1+N” network, with its headquarters in Zhongxian County as the core and regional sub-centers in citrus hubs such as Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, and Guangdong. This nationwide system provides seamless supply chain services, tailored financial solutions, and socialized orchard services, streamlining production and sales for the citrus industry.  

(Li Yuanyuan, as a reporter from Chongqing Daily, contributed the Chinese version of this report.)