China is one of the centres of origin of banana. The crop has been cultivated there for more than 2000 years, and in the last two decades, it has become one of the most important fruit crops in the country. With a production of 8,042,702 tonnes on an area of 311,106 ha in 2008, banana comes in fourth place, only after apple, citrus and pear. As the demand for banana in the country is very high, banana produced domestically can only meet 90% of the demand, the other 10% is met by imported banana. Banana is mainly cultivated in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Fujian, Yunnan Province and Taiwan. Guangdong's cultivated area and production quantity rank first in China. The banana industry in China has been evolving fast over the past two decades. Indeed, banana production is a crucial industry in each main producing area; it plays an important role in the local economy and rural development. Many high-yielding and good-quality production techniques have been widely adopted by growers, such as micropropagated plantlets, water-saving irrigation, fertilisation, bunch management techniques, etc. Since 2003, the industrialisation of banana production has been promoted effectively through the implementation of the "Banana Industrial Upgrading Plan" developed by the Agricultural Ministry. However, Chinese banana production is still facing many challenges such as pests and diseases, adverse weather conditions and level of industrialisation. More than 3,000 ha of banana plantations have been attacked by Fusarium wilt in Guangdong. Production declined by more than 30% due to cold temperature in 1991-1992, 1999-2000 and 2002-2003, and the damage in 2007-2008 was devastating. In order to promote a healthy and persistent development of the banana industry, the National Industry System of Banana was initiated by the National Agricultural Ministry in 2008. Scientists were organised to tackle key issues, including breeding, cultivation technology, postharvest and processing, marketing and trade.
