The flower and seedling industry, as Baotai Town’s signature and leading industry, started in the 1970s. After more than 40 years of development and nurturing, it has formed a production and sales cluster for flowers and seedlings. In recent years, Baotai Town has implemented a development strategy of “e-commerce leadership, industrial collaboration, brand momentum, and cultural tourism empowerment.” The vision is to create a “flower and seedling town integrating planting, sales, and tourism.” The town has rationally laid out functional areas such as “demonstration planting zones,” “tourism demonstration gardens,” “flower trading centers,” and “e-commerce service clusters,” continuously improving the service industry functions within the town. This has helped develop a distinctive flower and fruit industry village, further promoting the growth of the flower and seedling industry and elevating the local economy to new heights.
Entering Baotai Town’s high-end flower industry park, one can see neatly arranged flower racks in modern greenhouses, filled with various potted orchids. An e-commerce host is introducing the orchid products on camera while workers busily clean, arrange, and package the plants. Nearby, boxes of packaged orchids are ready for shipment to various locations. “I didn’t expect that after this combination, the orchid bonsai would not only look better but also have a significantly improved overall effect!” a local staff member praised within the greenhouse.
The vibrant activity in the high-end flower industry park is a microcosm of Baotai Town’s ongoing efforts to promote high-quality development in the flower and seedling industry. In line with e-commerce trends, Baotai Town is actively exploring sales channels combining “cooperatives + e-commerce + villagers,” integrating online and offline methods to continuously enhance the added value of its flower and seedling industry. Currently, there are over 44,000 acres of flower and seedling cultivation, more than 300 greenhouses, and over 20,000 people engaged in the breeding, planting, and sales of flowers and seedlings. There are more than 2,000 offline business entities and over 1,000 active online e-commerce operators, with annual logistics shipments exceeding 20 million orders. Baotai has been recognized as a “China Taobao Town” for several consecutive years since 2019, establishing a golden brand of “Baotai Flowers and Trees.”
Baotai Town emphasizes local and industrial characteristics in the construction of demonstration parks. It vigorously develops agricultural tourism, relying on the Yaohua Seedling and Flower Industry Park to create a comprehensive functional area for seedling and bonsai display, sales, and greening services. Based on the high-end flower industry demonstration park, it plans a comprehensive layout of flower sightseeing pathways around concentrated flower planting areas. Supporting facilities will include a flower planting experience center, research and study bases, and a flower wetland park, achieving an in-depth integration of leisure tourism and flower planting, and striving to create a new tourist destination.
In promoting high-quality development of the flower and seedling industry, Baotai Town organizes hands-on workshops for e-commerce live-streaming experts and flower growers, bringing classes to the fields, greenhouses, and processing workshops. This immersive teaching approach transforms the technical advantages of new farmers into production advantages. The town also strengthens strategic partnerships with institutions like the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Shandong Agricultural University to establish research and study bases, promote technological innovation and product development, and continuously enhance the cultivation and promotion of new varieties while maintaining traditional strengths, aiming for entry into the high-end market.
