Kunming Flower Expo Showcases Yunnan’s Quality Flowers, Attracts Praise from International Buyers

From September 18 to 20, the 24th China Kunming International Flower Expo & IFEX Kunming International Flower and Horticulture Expo, together with the 2026 Yunnan Coffee Expo and 2026 Yunnan Tea Expo, opened in Kunming.

Under the theme “Yunnan, A Place We Long For · A Garden for the World,” this year’s event introduced an innovative joint exhibition model bringing together five of Yunnan’s signature plateau industries — flowers, coffee, tea, tropical plants and small berries — offering a comprehensive showcase of the province’s strengths in specialty agriculture industry clustering and its growing openness to international markets.

Covering a total exhibition area of 80,000 square meters, the event brought together 520 flower enterprises from 21 countries and regions, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, along with 130 coffee enterprises and 194 tea and tea-related enterprises.The exhibition attracted 41,000 professional buyers from multiple countries, with delegations from Spain, India, Nepal and Russia attending as organized groups for the first time.Agricultural and rural affairs departments, forestry and grassland authorities, flower associations and industry experts from 16 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across China also participated. Within Yunnan, 41 major flower- and coffee-producing counties and districts from seven prefectures and cities organized more than 4,000 growers, agricultural technicians, distributors, business operators and other industry professionals to attend.Both the number of exhibitors and professional visitors increased compared with previous years, further demonstrating the growing vitality and influence of Yunnan’s flower and specialty agricultural industries.

Yunnan Flowers Gain Momentum Overseas as International Buyers Applaud “Yunnan Quality”

At the exhibition, Yunnan flower enterprises demonstrated strong enthusiasm for expanding into international markets.

Shen Chunling, General Manager of Yunnan Tengwei Flower Import & Export Co., Ltd., said:

“Our company mainly exports fresh-cut flowers to more than ten countries, with Central Asia and Russia being our major markets. Roses are particularly popular in Central Asia, while Russia has stronger demand for various complementary and seasonal flowers.

This year, our booth covers 84 square meters and features around 200 varieties. One of the most impressive aspects of this exhibition has been the large number of overseas buyers. They have been very satisfied with the quality of our products, and we have already reached a number of preliminary cooperation intentions.”

According to Shen, more than ten groups of overseas buyers visited the company’s booth for discussions in just one morning.On September 20, the company was also scheduled to dispatch a refrigerated truck carrying approximately eight tonnes of flowers to Russia, covering more than 100 varieties, with roses accounting for the largest share.

Zhou Zhimei, head of the succulent plant centre of Kunming Lai Xiaojie, had just completed the sale of a succulent plant to a Russian customer when she shared her experience at the exhibition:

“For this year’s flower expo, we brought festive gift products, DIY succulent arrangements, balcony succulents and terracotta-potted succulent bonsai. Our hydroponic succulents have attracted particular attention from visitors. Through the exhibition, we have also met many overseas customers and reached preliminary cooperation intentions with several of them.”

Li Feng, General Manager of Yunnan Xin’an Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., said:

“Our winterberry products have been particularly popular. A number of retail flower shops and wholesalers have already reached cooperation agreements with us.”

The company has established production bases in Xuanwei, Chuxiong and Huize, as well as a warehousing and logistics base in Xiaojiaying, Guandu District.Its total managed production area is nearly 6,000 mu, with cumulative investment approaching RMB 600 million. Annual production reaches approximately 3 million cut branches and 1 million potted plants.As one of the earliest enterprises in Yunnan to develop large-scale winterberry cultivation, the company once accounted for approximately half of China’s total potted winterberry production. Its development has also helped drive the expansion of the winterberry industry in Qujing, where the total planting area has now exceeded 10,000 mu.

Association Organizes Group Participation, Supporting the Development of a Digital Flower Industry Cluster

Qiao Xi, Secretary-General of the Kunming Guandu District Florwer Industry Development Association, said:

“This year, our association organized nine enterprises to participate in the exhibition, showcasing products including potted flowers, fresh-cut flowers and succulent plants. During the exhibition, participating enterprises have already generated a considerable volume of business transactions.Looking ahead, particularly in the development of Yunnan flower exports, we hope to encourage and support more flower enterprises in Guandu District to work together in expanding international markets and bringing more Yunnan flowers to the world.”

With sustained support and development efforts from relevant departments of Guandu District, the Guandu District Plateau Specialty Agriculture Integrated Development Demonstration Park, together with a standardized flower sorting, cold-storage and logistics support center, is currently under planning and development.Xiaojiaying is gradually emerging as an important cluster for Kunming’s flower industry.Guandu District has taken the lead in establishing the Kunming Guandu District Flower Industry Development Association and the Pilot Free Trade Zone Digital Flower Industry Association, while developing a coordinated service mechanism consisting of a Business Environment Observation Station, Enterprise Service Station and Investment Service Station.Through direct enterprise-support services extending into industrial parks and individual companies, Guandu District is accelerating the development of a digital flower industry cluster with an annual output value of RMB 6 billion.

At present, Guandu District is home to more than 600 flower-related enterprises and 33 digital flower platform enterprises. Leading platforms have achieved annual transaction volumes exceeding RMB 4 billion, while enterprises including Huawu Technology, Muyun Flowers and Huada Supply Chain have successfully entered the official statistical system as above-designated-size enterprises.

This year’s exhibition introduced an innovative joint exhibition model integrating flowers, coffee, tea, tropical plants and small berries, five signature plateau industries of Yunnan.The event not only created an international platform for global buyers and enterprises to communicate and explore cooperation, but also provided a comprehensive showcase of Yunnan’s industrial clustering advantages and growing openness to the world.From fresh-cut flowers and succulent plants to winterberry, coffee and tea, Yunnan’s specialty plateau agriculture is reaching global markets with increasing confidence.The international influence of “Yunnan, A Place We Long For · A Garden for the World” continues to grow.