China's first macadamia nut research center established

China officially set up its first-ever macadamia nut research center Friday, integrating functions of producing, teaching, and researching.

The center, in the city of Lincang, southwest China's Yunnan Province, aims to cultivate technological talent and stimulate targeted poverty reduction and rural vitalization under the macadamia nut industry, according to the provincial forestry and grassland administration.

In recent years, Lincang has seen platforms including the national-level laboratory for nut testing settle in the city, said Yang Jianrong, director of the Lincang academy of forestry.

The macadamia nut, indigenous to Australia, was first introduced to China in the 1970s and to Lincang in the early 1990s.

More than 266,660 hectares of these nuts have been grown across the province. Lincang has grown into one of the world's largest macadamia nut production bases over the years, boasting a planting area of more than 177,740 hectares by the end of 2019, said Yang.