NANNING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Rong'an County's kumquats in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have recently become a social media hit. Known as "jinju," meaning golden orange in Chinese, the small, oval-shaped citrus fruit has surprised consumers from Jakarta to Toronto.

The fruit's biggest marketing boost came in late January, when Jensen Huang, Nvidia's founder and CEO, was filmed emerging from a wet market in Shanghai, carrying armfuls of Rong'an kumquats. He handed them out at his China office's year-end party ahead of Chinese New Year celebrations.

Few shoppers at the market recognized Huang. Yet around 1,600 km to the southwest in Rong'an, the gesture was read as powerful validation.

Unlike typical bitter citrus, kumquats are prized for being sweet, thin-skinned, and entirely edible. In Chinese culture, kumquats are a symbol of good luck and prosperity. During the Chinese New Year, they are often given as gifts or displayed as decorations.

In the rugged Karst landscape of Guangxi, kumquats have grown from a seasonal treat into the backbone of a fast-modernizing rural economy. What began as part of the local poverty-alleviation drive has become a technology-driven industry with global reach.

According to local government statistics, Rong'an had 231,000 mu (15,400 hectares) of kumquats by 2025, producing roughly 287,000 tonnes of fruit in the year. The full industry chain is valued at nearly 10 billion yuan (around 1.45 billion U.S. dollars), with the "Rong'an Kumquat" having become a name brand nationwide.

More than 100,000 locals now earn their living from planting or processing of the fruit as well as its logistics.

At the center of the transformation is a new generation of returnee entrepreneurs who have traded urban high-rises for the orchards.

At Guangxi Rongan Ant Agriculture Development Co., Ltd.'s packing facility, Wei Xiaodong, who returned home in 2017 to found the company, has placed heavy emphasis on technology and strict quality controls.

Inside the sorting hall, it looks more like a high-tech laboratory than a warehouse. An AI system scans every fruit for appearance, color, surface defects, and internal quality -- including sugar content, all tracked and monitored in real time on multiple screens.

"Manual sorting sometimes misses fruit that looks perfect but lacks sweetness," Wei explained. "The AI performs a complete internal and external check-up, ensuring every batch meets our standards."

Premium-grade fruit, roughly 20 pieces per kilogram, is then individually wrapped in food-grade preservative film, a labor-intensive process designed to extend shelf life and stop one bad kumquat from spoiling the rest in the box.

"Last year our export volume roughly doubled the amount from the year before," Wei said.

The level of quality control is made possible not just by technology but also by the fruit's unique biology, according to Wu Qiqian, director of the government-backed Rong'an Kumquat Research Institute.

"In harsher conditions, kumquats tend to develop thorns, seeds, and thick, bitter skins as defenses," said Wu. "Here, with around 75 percent humidity and clean water sources, the fruit evolved to shed those protections."

Over decades, Rong'an kumquats have become thornless with exceptionally thin, edible skins.

The variety reached the acme of perfection in 2007 when a local farmer discovered a mutant tree that produced the now-prized "Crisp Honey" kumquat -- seedless, thin-skinned and intensely sweet.

Researchers at the institute spent more than a decade developing cultivation techniques. A breakthrough in 2021 finally allowed large-scale production of the high-sugar variety without compromising its delicate nature.

To ensure product quality and consistency, Rong'an has implemented strict national standards across every stage, from planting and harvesting to cold-chain logistics. The "field-to-table" model is powered by a big data platform that tracks growth in real time, ensuring every piece meets the expectations of buyers.

To protect the local crown jewel's reputation, Wei's company runs its own pesticide-residue testing laboratory. Fruit is tested once at the orchard gate and again upon arrival at the factory. Loads that fail the inspection are rejected outright. The company now operates a 5,800-mu eco-friendly production base and is preparing to meet even stricter international requirements.

The obsession with quality is seen as a key to cracking open more demanding markets.

Current export destinations include Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada and Qatar. In 2025, county-wide kumquat exports reached 6.34 million yuan -- nearly quadruple the previous year's total.

To maintain and upgrade quality to meet more demanding market standards, local authorities are protecting the "Rong'an" name as intellectual property. They are also tapping into the country's ever-growing online shopping scene to sustain the viral traffic for the fruit.

"Rong'an kumquat isn't just a fruit; it is a product designed for the digital age," said Lai Yuanyuan, a local businesswoman who was a fruit farmer. "It is naturally suited for e-commerce: resilient during transport and possessing a long shelf life."

By linking 700 enterprises and 24,000 online stores into a digital network of fruit lovers, the county is actively elevating its native fruit from a rural staple to a "social media darling."

According to Lai, the efforts have lately culminated in a high-profile collaboration between the Italian chocolatier Ferrero and Chinese fruit retail giant Pagoda. The partnership upgraded the product's gift packaging from a humble plastic crate to one resembling a luxury chocolate box. ■