UAE Date Palms Bear Fruit Across Inland Chinese Regions as Cultivation Expands

UAE date palm varieties have yielded fruit in inland Chinese regions for the first time, expanding beyond initial cultivation sites in Hainan Province, Emirates 24|7 reported citing Xinhua News Agency. The harvest season recently concluded across trial bases located in Wenchang City in Hainan, Yuanjiang County in Yunnan Province, and Panzhihua City in Sichuan Province.

According to the Xinhua report, eight UAE date palm varieties bore fruit again at the Wenchang base after first fruiting in 2025. In China's inland dry-hot valley regions, 52 palms representing eight varieties yielded fruit for the first time at the Yuanjiang base, while 125 palms bore fruit at the Panzhihua base just one year after planting.

The cultivation program is part of an initiative announced by the UAE in 2019 to donate 100,000 date palm seedlings to support China's date palm sector and crop diversification. An initial delivery of 1,500 seedlings in 2021 achieved a survival rate of approximately 93 percent, followed by a second shipment of 23,500 seedlings to foster agricultural collaboration and scientific exchange.

Trial planting has progressed into specialized local facilities. Yuanjiang County established a two-hectare base planted with nine UAE varieties in October 2024, while Panzhihua established a base spanning more than four hectares with 942 palms across nine varieties in June 2025.