Myrtle fruit had attracted more than US$20 million in investment for Huidong County, it was reported Wednesday.

The fruit looks like green pepper and is sweet and juicy. The expensive fruit, said to be a favorite of Taiwanese, is rare outside Taiwan and many Taiwanese become homesick when eating the fruit.

However, this June, many Taiwanese in Guangdong have been able to pick the fruit from trees in Huidong County.

A Mr. Ji planted the trees 16 months ago, according to the Yangcheng Evening News. The trees began to bear fruit in June, the first time the fruit has ever been grown in Guangdong. The quality of the fruit is much better than expected.

Mr. Ji planted 1,500 mu (100 hectares) of the trees in Huidong. The fruit is sold at 60-79 yuan (US$7.2-9.6) per kilogram.

More than 20 Taiwanese have shown interest in investing in Huidong after learning that Myrtle trees can be grown there. Two contracts worth more than US$20 million had been signed, the newspaper reported.

Other attempts to grow the fruit in Guangdong and Hainan have not been successful in producing quality fruit.

This article was seleted from szdaily, which was updated in July, 3, 2003.