A new variety of lychee cultivated by Hu Guibing, a chief scientist with the National Lychee Longan Industrial Technology System, and his team is expected to play a role in promoting rural vitalization in Maoming, a city in the western part of Guangdong province, in the months to come.

Hu said that Xiantao lychee, also known as fairy peach lychee, began to be demonstratively planted in the Dianbai district of Maoming in March last year, and the trees have already borne fruit.

A lychee tree usually bears fruit after being planted for three to four years, said Hu, dean of the College of Horticulture at South China Agricultural University.

According to Hu, the fairy peach lychee got its name as the fruit can grow up to 110 grams, bigger than a duck's egg, and looks like a fairy peach.

Maoming has approximately 667,000 square meters of planting areas for the fruit.

Hu said he is considering to promote the planting area for Xiantao lychee to 66.67 square kilometers nationwide, helping farmers increase their income and promoting rural economies.

Luo Daohai, a local lychee planter, said that Xiantao lychee has been favored since it was put on sale in local markets this year.

Chen Houbin, a former chief scientist with the National Lychee Longan Industrial Technology System, said he is promoting the integration of lychee planting and tourism industries in Caojiang township, Gaozhou, a county-level city administered by Maoming.

"Lychee orchards can become tourist attractions when the lychee trees blossom and yield fruit, attracting tourists from home and abroad to appreciate the flowers and taste the famous southern Chinese fruit," he said.

"Compared to many orchards in America and Europe, local orchards lack good planning and management," he said, adding that many orchards needed to be transformed and upgraded according to local conditions in the following months.

Ruan Chuanmeng, deputy Party secretary of Caojiang, said the round red-peel and white-pulp fruit planting is a pillar industry in his township. The township government is optimistic about the prospects of lychee industry and would spare no effort in promoting the fruit in the future.