China: Opportunities for greenhouse cultivation in Shandong

Shandong province has been a consistent leading power in China’s agriculture industry, as well as vegetable production. Since the 1990’s, the province's vegetable sown area, total output, value, commodity volume and other major indicators have ranked 1st in China.

The vegetable sown area in Shandong makes up 1/10 of China’s total, with the output equivalent of 1/7 of China’s total.

In 2015, its vegetable output value (including gourd vegetables) totaled 214 billion RMB, accounting for about 43% of the total agricultural output value of Shandong.

Shandong is also a leader in protected cultivation. Shandong has the largest surface area of greenhouses in China. The protected area totaled over 973,000ha (including 300,000ha solar greenhouses and the rest of different sized tunnels) in 2015, roughly 1/4 of nation’s total.

Shandong has been the largest exporter of vegetables both in output and value for 15 consecutive years, which accounts for about 1/3 of nation’s total. In 2015, over 3,000 processing companies exported vegetables and products worth 3.62 billion USD, to over 170 countries and regions across the globe.

The Dutch government has released a report detailing the opportunities for greenhouse vegetable cultivation in the Chinese province. Download the report here.