Leading Wine Grape Growing Base Planned in China's Northern City

Bayan Nur City in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is planning to build a nation's leading wine grape growing base in its Ulan Buh Desert.

According to the municipal desert control authority, the project will cover a total area of 26,667 hectares, yield 600,000 tonnes of wine grapes a year and produce 400,000 tonnes of wine annually.

The first-phase of the project, which involved a 13.33-hectare grape growing demonstration park, has begun with a cost of more than 1.4 million yuan (204,978 U.S. dollars).

If the experiment is successful in the demonstration park, the grape growing area will be expanded.

Upon completion of the whole project, 60,000 jobs will be created and 160 billion yuan in annual output value will be generated.