Liu Dongtian (left) harvests pears at an orchard in Guanxian county, Shandong province. [Photo provided to CHINA DAILY]

In Liutun village, Guanxian county of Shandong province, pear orchards are heavy with fruit in autumn. After sorting, packaging, pre-cooling and cold-chain transport, they will land on shelves in overseas markets.

Guanxian pears now enjoy stable exports to Russia, Kazakhstan and Southeast Asian countries, with the annual export volume exceeding 8,000 metric tons, according to the county government.

"I've never been abroad, but my pears got there first," said Liu Jingtian, a pear farmer in Liutun, capturing the most tangible change in this village on the western edge of Shandong.

Residents of Liutun have worked with pear trees for decades.

In the 1960s, however, most of the land across the village was too sandy and produced few crops and fruits.

Under the leadership of the then village Party secretary Liu Lanying, more than 300 villagers took part in a sand-control and afforestation campaign. After 18 years of hard work, they transformed over 330 hectares of sandy wasteland in order to plant pear and apple trees.

In recent years, more and more young people have returned to the village, devoting themselves to the fruit industry.

Among them is 37-year-old Liu Dongtian, who opened the door to foreign markets for Guanxian fruit with his vision and relentless efforts.

After graduating from Liaocheng University in 2012 with a degree in English language, Liu Dongtian joined a real estate company, and was stationed at construction sites as a client representative.

"When I think about why I came back, it was not just about the pears. It was about this land and the perseverance of a generation," Liu Dongtian said. "I didn't think the job had poor prospects. I chose to return mainly because I saw that the pears in my hometown couldn't fetch a good price. Many farmers in Guanxian grew pears, but they were hard to sell."

Two years after graduation, he went back home and founded Guanxian Dongyuan Agricultural Products Co. He traveled repeatedly to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and visited supermarkets in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand to conduct fruit market research.

"The fruit in these supermarkets is quite standardized, unified in size and stable in quality," Liu Dongtian said.

"But at that time, the pears grown by farmers in our production area varied in size and quality, falling short of such standards," he added.

Having concluded his research, he focused on variety, quality and packaging of the pears. He guided farmers to choose premium varieties, promoted smart farming equipment for water-fertilizer drip irrigation and drone pest control, and achieved full-process management and traceability from field care to harvesting.

Gradually, he established partnerships with supermarkets, building an integrated marketing model from farmers to supermarkets.

Once sales channels opened, Liu Dongtian quickly set his sights further afield. He completed export registration for orchards and packaging plants, making Dongyuan the first fruit company in Guanxian with export trade qualifications.

Finding overseas customers required legwork. Starting in 2017, he attended international expos to find customers. His English major finally became a "new farming tool".

"In export business, language is definitely the first priority. Only with smooth communication with customers can you better expand the market," he said.

Before each shipment went out, he would communicate repeatedly with customers to confirm details, and so far there have been no major misunderstandings.

What truly left a deep impression on him was his first overseas order. In 2017, a Malaysian fruit dealer placed an order worth 300,000 yuan ($45,000) with Liu Dongtian, but on the condition of payment upon delivery and no deposit.

"The biggest pressure at the time came from funding. Our own capital was insufficient, and I feared most that after collecting and shipping the pears, the payment wouldn't come back and I wouldn't be able to settle accounts with the farmers," he said.

Liu Dongtian ultimately chose to accept the order. Twenty tons of fresh pears traveled across the ocean for more than 20 days, and what awaited him was the customer's recognition and full payment. That order became a pathway for Liu Dongtian's company to the overseas market.

His export business has helped propel Guanxian's fruit exports, driving the county's agricultural products onto the global stage. Across the county, Guanxian has registered more than 40 orchards and packaging plants that have export qualifications, with export markets covering more than 20 countries and regions.

Liu Dongtian is now planning to promote full-industry-chain development of the pear industry, sending his hometown's specialty onto China-Europe freight trains and into Middle Eastern and European markets.

From an English major graduate to selling his hometown's pears overseas, and then gradually integrating cold chain, sorting, packaging and e-commerce into the industrial chain, Liu Dongtian's path as a new farmer is not just about leaving the land and then returning to it, but about bringing what he learned during his time away back home to nurture the land and benefit its people.

An Xianglin contributed to this story.