Photo: Xinhua

Twenty-two metric tons of sweet potatoes from a farm in Huizhou, Guangdong province, were shipped to the Netherlands recently after undergoing strict inspection at a customs checkpoint in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.

The produce quickly went up for sale in major supermarkets and shopping centers in the Netherlands, according to a statement released by Guangdong Customs on Monday.

Another batch of sweet potatoes will be sold to Canada next week, the statement said.

In the coming weeks, Guangdong will export another 22 containers, or about 500 metric tons, of sweet potatoes to other European countries, having received order previously, the statement said.

The sweet potato exports are one example of how agricultural products from Guangdong are reaching the tables of the world, it said.

According to Guangdong customs, Suixi county in western Guangdong's Zhanjiang city sold dragon fruit, abroad earlier this month. It was the first time the fruit had been exported from Zhanjiang, on the Leizhou peninsula.

In Zhanjiang and Maoming, two major fruit production bases in Guangdong, lychee exports have reached more than 1,850 metric tons this year, up more than 60 percent year-on-year, the statement said.

Most of the lychee was sold to the United States, Canada, Europe and Southeast Asian nations this year.

Currently, Guangdong lychee is sold in major supermarkets in California at the prices ranging from $4.99 to $5.99 a pound.