China has strengthened its position as the world's leading producer of fresh fruit and vegetables, according to new statistics from the FAO, beating out competition from India and the US.
According to the latest data, which relates to 2016, China's fresh produce production came to 708m tonnes, up 3 per cent on the previous year.
The country represents 39 per cent of the world's fruit and vegetable production, followed by India (10 per cent) and the US (4 per cent).
Chinese vegetable production came to 448m tonnes, up from 447m tonnes in 2015, lead by potatoes, tomatoes and cabbages.
Fruit production in the country came in at 259m tonnes from 249.5m tonnes, with watermelons, apples and pears the top products.
India produced 180m tonnes, the same volume as in 2015, made up of 105.5m tonnes of vegetables and 74.3m tonnes of fruit.
In third position was the US with 71.6m tonnes, 1.3 per cent less than in 2015 when 72.6m tonnes were produced. US vegetable production amounted to 45m tonnes and fruit production came to 26.6m tonnes.
Other leading producers wereRussia (48.6m tonnes), Turkey (47.8m tonnes), Brazil (45.4m tonnes), Mexico (32.7m tonnes), Iran (32.2m tonnes), Ukraine (32m tonnes), Egypt (31.6m tonnes) and Spain with 31.2m tonnes, according to FAO's 2016 data.
