As couples are already set to enjoy Valentine's Day, flower traders in China are welcoming the boost in their sales due to the annual celebration of romance.
Kunming Dounan Flower Market, the country's largest flower market in Yunnan Province, stated that its daily trade volume of fresh flowers has remained at about 6 million in the past five days, meaning nearly 70 flowers are being sold every second.
Zhang Li, the general manager of Dounan Flower Market, said: "A record high of 6.41 million flowers were sold on Thursday. The price of flowers is also increasing, even for filler flowers. The single price for most common roses is about 7 yuan to 8 yuan ($1-$1.16), while the price for baby's breath is about 170 yuan per kilogram."
"This year's flower sales for Valentine's Day are expected to increase at least tenfold when compared with last year," said Zhang Xi, the deputy general manager of hgmtou.com, an online flower shop based in Beijing.
Data from Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant, indicated that viewing of flowers on its e-commerce platform had increased substantially. Data showed that the biggest buyers of flowers are from Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong Province. Buyers are aged between 26 and 30 years old.
Zhang Li said that the boost in sales this year was driven by the growing demand from markets in both China and other Southeast Asian countries.
He added: "Flowers from Dounan have been sold to buyers in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand, among other countries. In addition, this year's Spring Festival fell early, at the end of January, creating two separate purchasing periods--the traditional Chinese festival and Valentine's Day--which helped boost sales."
According to industry insiders, the peak seasons for flower sales are generally related to festivals, but with the rapid development of the flower market, the boundaries between peak and off seasons have been blurred.
Reflower.com.cn, an e-commerce platform selling fresh flowers, released a report which indicates that flower consumption is no longer restricted to festivals. It also indicated that the number of consumers that are buying flowers on a weekly basis for decoration is increasing.