The breeding progress and development status of the kiwifruit industry in China

Kiwifruit is native to China, but the kiwifruit industry first developed in New Zealand. After more than 110 years of development, kiwifruit have become an important fruit in the world. The orchard cultivation of kiwifruit in China began in the early 1980s, and the initial planting area was less than 1 ha with the cultivar 'Hayward' of New Zealand. After more than 40 years of development, by 2020, the national cultivated orchard area is nearly 290,000 ha, and the annual output is more than 3.2 million t, with diversified cultivars. The planting area of 'Hayward' has declined to only 6.3% of the total. The kiwifruit industry has played an important role in developing the rural county economy, alleviating farmers' poverty, and protecting the natural environment. In the past 42 years, China's exploration and utilization of wild germplasm resources and innovative breeding has promoted the rapid development of kiwifruit industry and has resulted in development of 156 new cultivars, including eight with planted orchard areas of more than 6667 ha: 'Hongyang', ' Xuxiang', 'Cuixiang', 'Donghong', 'Guichang', 'Jinyan', 'Miliang 1' and 'Jintao'. According to flesh color, the green-, yellow- and red-fleshed cultivars of Actinidia chinensis Planch. accounted for 49.87, 15.80 and 32.56% of the total planting area, respectively, and another 1.77% of A. arguta (Sieb. et Zucc.) Planch. ex Miq. and A. eriantha Benth. 99.73% of Chinese kiwifruit production is domestically consumed. Meanwhile, kiwifruit annual imports into China have increased continuously and reached 193,205 t by 2019, and China has become the largest importer in the world. Finally, it is concluded that China has become the world's largest producer and consumer.