@@Dear guests, ladies and gentlemen, In this beautiful season, on behalf of Hubei provincial government and our 60 million people, I am very glad to welcome the experts and friends from all over the world to attend the 11th International Citrus Congress held in Wuhan, Hubei. Hubei province, located in the middle reach of the Yangtze River and heartland of China, enjoys convenient transportation and rich cultural heritages. As a province focus on agricultural production in China, Hubei not only takes advantages in production of primary agricultural produces like cereal, cotton, oilseeds, and fishery products, but also is an important origin of China's citriculture with a long produciton history and distinctive characteristics. The citrus planting history of Hubei Province is simultaneous with that of China, and it has played a significant part in the development of citriculture of China, or even the world. The two ancient Chinese historical books, ' Records of the Grand History' and ' Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals' , showed that premium had been put on citrus production in Hubei as early as the 4th century BC and that the production in Hubei was famous in that era. The Three Gorges area in western Hubei is one of the origins of citrus where wild plants of the Yichang papeda are still present nowadays. The most preeminent poem on citrus in Chinese history, ' Ju Song' (Ode of Citrus) , was written by Qu Yuan who was born in the Three Gorges area.
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