An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 5, 2026 shows a date palm plantation of the Coconut Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences in Wenchang, south China’s Hainan Province. Date palms at plantations operated by the Coconut Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) have recently entered their fruiting stage. In Wenchang, south China’s Hainan Province, eight date palm varieties that first bore fruit in 2025 have produced fruit again this year.
The date palm, known as the “bread of the desert,” is an important economic crop native to the Middle East and North Africa. Its fruit is rich in nutrients. In 2019, China and the United Arab Emirates reached consensus on developing China’s date palm industry and exploring cooperation. From 2021 to 2024, the UAE donated a total of 25,000 date palm seedlings to China in two batches. CATAS received the seedlings and started nurturing them in Hainan.
As date cultivation and research progress, Chinese research teams continue to make breakthroughs in seedling breeding, pest and disease control, post-harvest preservation and deep processing. Date palms have since been planted on a trial basis in 18 cities and counties across Hainan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi.
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