Yunnan Province in southwest China plans to invest 3 billion yuan (about 454.5 million U.S. dollars) in boosting its coffee industry in the coming decade, a trade association head said Sunday.

Most of the money will be used to improve soil quality so barren land can be converted into coffee plantations, as well as for building research centers and coffee growing training.

Subsidies will also be granted to some promising coffee processing enterprises, Xiong Xiangru, head of the Coffee Association of Yunnan, told Xinhua.

The provincial government wants Yunnan to produce 200,000 tonnes of coffee beans per annum by 2020, up from the current annual output of 38,000 tonnes.

To achieve the target, over the coming five years 66,667 hectares of land needs to be converted into coffee plantations.

Presently Yunnan has 33,333 hectares of land being planted with coffee, accounting for 98 percent of the nation's total, Xiong said.

Xiong noted that the coffee industry provided an income for many people in the province's border areas.

There are around 6,667 hectares of coffee in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, with approximately 300,000 people engaged in coffee growing and related business.

Source: Xinhua

Editor: Xie Fang