The history of agriculture in China exceeds 7,000 years. A great variety of plants and animals have been exploited, utilized, cultivated, domesticated and bred by Chinese farmers. Their richness is unparalleled. Not only did many of them originate in China, but also large number of their wild prototypes and relatives can still be found there. China has more than 1,900 species and types of domesticated animals. The known species of economic trees exceed 1,000. There are about 50,000 varieties of rice and 20,000 soybeans. The total number of China’s cultivated and wild fruit trees ranks first in the world, and many of them either originated in China or is the center of their distributions. As well as various kinds of apples, pears and plums (Prunus spp.), there are persimmon (Diospyros kaki), Yangtao (Actinidia spp.), various citrus fruits (including Citrus sineness), and Lychee, Longan, Loquat and Red bayberry (Myrica rubra). They all originated in China. China has more than 11,000 species of medicinal and 4,200 species of forages plants. The important ornamental flowers that originated in China numbers 2,200 species. The wild prototypes and relatives of various plants with an economic value are numerous, but uncounted.

Crops

Domestic Animals

Aquatic Products

Economic Forest Trees

Wild and Cultivated Fruit Trees

Ornamental Plants

Medicinal Plants