According to LI Shaohua, a specialist in this field at CAS Institute of Botany, the first 10.000 m2 Chinese plant was installed in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, as late as June 2016. He sees a great perspective for this technology in China, because a) due to urbanization, land will become scarce and productivity of vertical farming is much higher, b) technology is becoming mature, c) soil quality is deteriorating, d) the Chinese approach of using modular systems for plant construction will decrease prices dramatically. Apart from vegetables and fruits like tomato, the cultivation of fruits, flowers and medicinal plants is already being investigated.
China Bio news release, October 17, 2017
Plant factories may have big future in China