A cargo aircraft landed at the Weihai International Airport and passed through water jets on Thursday, marking the start of JD Airlines' "cherry flight".

周四，一架货机降落在威海国际机场，并通过喷水灭火器，标志着京东航空“樱桃航班”的开始。

The "cherry flight," operated between Weihai and Hangzhou by JD Logistics-affiliated airline, is expected to transport 20 tons of products every day.

京东物流旗下航空公司运营的“樱桃航班”往返威海和杭州，预计每天运输20吨产品。

Wendeng district of Weihai city, where the Weihai International Airport located, is one of the major cherry planting regions in Shandong province.

威海国际机场所在地威海市文登区是山东省樱桃主产区之一。

Cherry blossom-flavored latte coffee is the recent seasonal innovation from Nestle China — one of the 200 newly created products on the agenda for the booming consumer market in China this year.

樱花味拿铁咖啡是雀巢中国最近推出的季节性创新产品，是今年中国消费市场蓬勃发展的200种新产品之一。

JD Fresh's cherry sales reached nearly 500 million yuan in the 2020 season.

京东生鲜在2020年的樱桃季销售额达到近5亿元。

The company unveiled its Yoom cocktail tomato and sweet dimple cherry tomato in Shanghai last week, in a bid to bring consumers new flavor experiences.

Ferrero also launched the CIIE Mon Cheri, a combination of crunchy dark chocolate, juicy cherry and liqueur first introduced in Europe in 1956.

The unit unveiled standards, including products classification and packaging specifications for its fresh food such as crawfish, apple, cherry, blueberry and crabs, so as to enhance the added-value of products and reduce costs.

"Cherry Huang, general manager of Alipay's cross-border business for South and Southeast Asia, said Alipay aims to enable the smart lifestyle for Chinese consumers and to bring the convenience that they enjoy at home to overseas countries they travel to.

The event, which kicked off on March 20 and was held concurrently with the annual Wuxi International Cherry Blossom Festival at Yuantouzhu Scenic Area, was hailed as a great success.

Visitors and tourists from home and abroad flocked to the city to admire the cherry blossoms of spring while feeling the pulse of Wuxi's opening and development.

Our friendship will surely flourish like the cherry blossoms in Wuxi.

"Bruno Jans, the Belgian consul-general in Shanghai, said the international month and cherry blossom festival connect Wuxi to the world and create opportunities for business cooperation.

In late 2017, he transported more than 500 cherry trees from the city of Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, to Shichao and has since built 10 greenhouses and grown nearly 20,000 cherry trees.

The temperature, humidity, and light control system in the greenhouses has helped cherry trees grow in Shichao, which is otherwise not warm enough and cannot provide sufficient sun exposure for the plant.

People are mesmerized by the idea of savoring the juicy yet pricey fruit, which has led to the coining of the term "cherry freedom" to gauge wealth levels.

Now, reports that some imported cherries tested positive for traces of the coronavirus in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, have swiftly sent shock waves across Chinese social media, deterring customers and hurting cherry prices.

Freshippo, the online-to-offline chain store, said cherry sales doubled on Wednesday alone compared with "conventional levels".

Sought-after items include the JJ-level Chilean cherry, typically used to describe fruits with a diameter of 28 to 30 millimeters.

And Chile has added 30 percent to its cherry volume this year.

According to estimates from the Chilean Cherry Committee, in the 2020-21 season Chile will export 316,000 tons of fresh cherries globally, a 38 percent increase year-on-year.

BUENOS AIRES - China's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has benefited the production and export of cherries in Argentina, which has seen a 33 percent increase in shipments to the Asian country, according to the Argentine Chamber of Integrated Cherry Producers (CAPCI).

Among the factors that have prompted the South American country to record a rebound in its foreign sales are the opening of the Chinese market, Argentina's off-season harvest and the recognition by Chinese health authorities of the Argentine cherry producing region as pest free area for fruit flies, said CAPCI's Executive Manager Anibal Caminiti on Thursday in an interview with Xinhua.

"In April 2020, China recognized the absence of the fruit flies in the Argentine cherry region.

According to the chamber manager, Argentine cherry has a long export season since the country has "a very extended supply that goes from the end of October to the end of February, which allows us to position ourselves in the markets with an early and a late fruit.

About 35 percent of the total production of the Argentine cherry is destined for China, according to CAPCI data, while other destinations include North America, Europe, the Middle East, South America and Africa.

Following the route's launch, the average logistics and distribution time for each cherry container has been reduced by 30 hours, resulting in a 30 percent decrease in overall logistics costs, as reported by Tianjin Port.

Besides green vegetables, on the white plates in the plant factory grow other plants, such as cherry tomatoes, pansies, and strawberries, throughout the 30,000 square-meter intelligent greenhouses.

Shunyi district, one of the main cherry producing areas in Beijing, has invested 72 million yuan ($10 million) in the past three years and established about a 1,000 acresxa0(404.69 hectare) of cherry greenhouse facilities, forming a modern and efficient agricultural cluster and benefiting thousands of farmers.

As the main cherry producing areas in Beijing, major cherry orchards in Shunyi are experiencing a hot picking season.

Due to the favorable weather condition, the cherry picking period may be extended to mid-June this year.

In order to promote the development of the cherry industry, Shunyi district has built a cherry industry belt along the five towns of Qianshan and key cherry production areas.

In addition, the district has introduced more than 30 high-quality cherry varieties in recent years, and promoted over 10 advanced new achievements and technologies.

Shunyi's cherry has won the golden and first prize in cherry ratings both in Beijing and nationwide for many years, which aim to showcase the development achievements of China's cherry industry and promote the exchange and the product quality of cherry.

On May 22, the 9th International Cherry Conference, crowned as the "Olympic Games" of the world's cherry industry, was held in Shunyi district.

Currently, the cherry planting area in Shunyi district has reached 7,500 acres, including 5,500 acres of fruiting area, with an annual output of over 1.5 million kilograms and an output value of over 60 million yuan.

Li Jiuren, a researcher at Shunyi Forestry and Parks Bureau, said the cherry industry has become one of the leading sectors in Shunyi fruit trees, and with the increasing enthusiasm of the local people for planting, the cherry planting area now ranks the third in the city.

She had over 30 chrysanthemum varieties — such as white fan chrysanthemum and olive green — planted successfully, and also introduced foreign breeds such as Hokkaido lavender and cherry blossom.

At present, there is a wide variety of high-value, precious flowers planted at the base, including over 5 million cherry blossoms and over 200,000 Annabelle hydrangea bulbs.

In terms of flavor, cherry, blueberry and cranberry have become the most popular flavors in the past three years, the institute said.

As spring arrives and flowers blossoms, many tourists start to enjoy cherry, white plum and rape flowers in rural areas, making it a flourishing growth point in the rural economy.

In Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, the cherry blossom garden in Tangbu village is in full bloom, attracting visitors to enjoy the cherry blossoms.

Port operators in Nansha of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, have prepared well for a peak arrival of Chilean cherries in mid-and-late December, by introducing measures to ensure a smooth and fast clearance of cherry containers.

They have developed unique themes, including caskets with cherry blossom patterns.

There are four pancakes in the box, and the recommended sequence of enjoying their taste is first regular cheese, then cherry mousse, earl grey cheese and cinnamon mousse, given that it is better for palate to gradually appreciate a lighter to heavier taste.

Countrywide, rape flowers, cherry blossoms and peach blossoms have received the most attention, as the varieties are widely planted and their blooming seasons come relatively earlier.

Cherry imports to China have been growing steadily in the last few years and Turkey is expected to account for a large portion this year, they said.

Turkey produces about 500,000 tons of cherry annually, and is the top nation in terms of volume.

The China market is now open to the large majority of the Turkish cherry crop, and imports are expected to rise significantly over the coming seasons, with the removal of requirements last year that cherries exported from Turkey to China should undergo a 16-day cold treatment period.

I had planned to go to Japan with my mom in March to experience sights of the most brilliant cherry blossoms.

Wuxi has tasted the sweetness of the "floral economy" by building a world-class cherry blossom viewing site and creating a lavender park that generates an annual ticket revenue of over 25 million yuan.

Wine, cherry and seafood suffered the most, according to ProChile, the Export Promotion Bureau of Chile.

Du Ni, a 30-year-old bank employee in Beijing, said she went to a park in Beijing to view the cherry blossoms there during a recent weekend.

By showing exhibitions and cherry blossoms via livestreaming, the platform has also paved the way for tourist destinations to attract more visitors once the epidemic ends.

Wang Ning, a cherry and mango seller participating in this year's Spring Festival gala, saw her 100,000 fruit orders being snapped up in 24 hours.

On a cherry plantation owned by Nativa Foods, 50 km from Chile's capital Santiago, cherry trees are basking in the hot sun.

"We are constantly adjusting the cherry varieties, based on Chinese consumers' appetite," said Morales, adding he hopes to introduce advanced agricultural drones from China to reduce losses from bird peckings in the orchards.

"Chile's cherry production is expected to double in four to five years.

Last year, the ice cream maker introduced special ice cream flavors like cherry blossom, lavender and blueberry, and raspberry and white peach in China.

The younger generation even created the new term "cherry freedom", referring to the financial capability to buy imported cherries without thinking about the cost.

"Our weekly cherry imports can reach 20 tons," Dai said.

Chilean cherries are also popular, although they are so expensive that netizens have coined the term "cherry freedom" - the ability to purchase the fruit without a second thought - as a wealth indicator.

I now prefer light flavors," she said, sharing an image of her lunch - a mixture of corn kernels, mushroom, eggs, cherry tomatoes, beef and mashed potato.

Cherry sales were also brisk on other retail platforms.

Currently, Chile is the largest supplier of cherries to China, which is also its top customer for cherries, buying more than 85 percent of Chile's cherry exports.

The company's shares jumped 3 percent to close at $345 on Wednesday after SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon Heavy rocket with Musk's cherry red Roadster as its cargo.

You see more Chinese-brand cars driving in the streets of Moscow, such as Haval, Cherry, Dongfeng and others," Kashin said.