SHANGHAI — China’s consumption of cut flowers is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan ($14.87 billion) by 2020, according to China Flower Association.

The association said the development of home delivery services and blooming e-commerce platforms are driving the consumption of cut flowers in the country.

More than 23.5 billion yuan of cut flowers were sold through e-commerce platform in 2017, it added.

Attracted by the fast developing “flower economy”, provinces including Yunnan, Guangdong, and Shandong, have listed it as a key industry.

China has the world’s largest planting area of flowers which reached 1.4 million hectares in 2017, 100 times larger than that in 1984.

Customs data shows that the annual exports of China’s cut flowers exceed $100 million, to more than 40 countries and regions.