Farmers in Rongcheng, a county-level city in Weihai, Shandong province, sort apples on Tuesday. [Photo by Li Xinjun/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Farmers in Shandong province are busy harvesting, sorting and packaging apples. They have made full use of natural resources, such as mountainous areas and climate to develop an apple industry in recent years.

Through the cooperation of local governments, cooperatives and farmers, an efficient and sustainable apple industry has been established in the province, which is increasing local incomes and promoting rural vitalization.

China's total output of apples last year reached 47.57 million metric tons, ranking first in the world, according to the apple industry report released by China Apple Industry Association last week in Yunnan province.