On Dec 24, a freight train carrying seeds departs from Jiuquan for Italy via the new western land-sea corridor rail-sea linkage. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Wu Duozhi, general manager of Zhangye Ruizhen Seed, said the company's 2025 export value reached about 18 million yuan, with the Netherlands as the largest market.

"In 2025, all our exports were vegetable seeds. Flower seed orders are expected to resume in 2026, with projected exports of 18 to 20 million yuan," he said.

Zhangye's highland summer vegetables are also exported, with 667 hectares of export-oriented bases producing 21,000 tons annually. Some produce is processed into freeze-dried vegetables for European markets, while fresh vegetable exports total roughly 500,000 tons per year.