The city of Fenyang, Shanxi province signed 6.9 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) worth of project agreements on the first day of its 7th International Walnut Symposium, July 20, covering walnut-related industries, tourism, mushroom production, and wind power.

Fenyang is known as China's largest walnut production base, walnut seed seedling base, and walnut processing, sales and distribution center, thanks to its 2,000-year history walnut cultivation. Its walnut export dates back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and, now, after years of development, its walnut acreage reaches 36,667 hectares, and its annual output is around 20,000 tons.

The four-day International Walnut Symposium was started by the International Society for Horticultural Science, back in 1989, and is held every four years. By 2009, it had been held in Hungary, Portugal, France, Italy and Australia. Experts and traders from more than 30 countries and regions took part in the symposium in Fengyang.

Edited by Zhou Yuanyuan and Roger Bradshaw