The first International Apple Symposium will be held in the city of Luochuan in Shaanxi province on October 11. More than 1,000 delegates from across the world will participate at the event, visiting model apple orchards and sharing innovative research results in the fruit industry.

The apple industry in Shaanxi, developed from the 1980s, has been expanding with government support. In 2016, apple tree planting areas in Shaanxi are expected to exceed 7,300 km2, yielding at least 11 million?tons of apples, which will account for a seventh of the world's yearly yield.

Sun Maojun, deputy director of the Institute of Food and Nutrition Development in the Ministry of Agriculture, said it was necessary to promote the apple industry in Shaanxi as Chinese people were getting richer and needed to have a more balanced dietary structure, with more fruits and vegetables and fewer grains. Han Jun, deputy director of The Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs see this International Apple Symposium as an opportunity to make Shaanxi's apple industry more influential in the fruit trade market both domestically and internationally.