According to Jiang Zehui, head of the China Flower Association,1.95 million people are now engaged in flower-related businesses across the country.

Flower cultivation has been increasing by an annual average rate of 25 percent in the past five years and by 2001 had reached 246,000 hectares.

And annual sales of flowers have risen by 35 percent on averageand were worth 21.58 billion yuan (about US$2.6 billion) last year.

China, with its vast land, unique geographic environment and diverse climate, is home to over 35,000 species of plants, according to incomplete statistics.

(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2002)