Asia’s biggest flower market makes stars out of influencers

Boxes of roses, lilies and carnations pile up as influencer Caicai speaks into her smartphone from a small studio at Asia's biggest flower market - with thousands of customers eagerly awaiting her view on the best deals.

E-commerce is big business in China and influencers and livestreamers have made their fortunes showcasing products for luxury brands and cosmetics firms.

Now the nation's horticulture industry, worth an estimated 160 billion yuan ($25.1 billion), is getting in on the action.

And where once people visited markets and florists themselves, they are increasingly shopping for blooms via their smartphones.

Online retail now represents more than half the sector's turnover.

"Five bouquets, only 39.8 yuan (6.25 dollars) for those that order right away," the 23-year-old says - a sales pitch she hones for eight hours a day delivered at lightning speed.

"When you sell something for a long time, the words come naturally," she tells AFP.
Earnings can be unreliable, however.

"Flower sales vary in busy and slack seasons, so a livestreamers' daily income is very variable. All I can say is that the more you work, the luckier you will be," she explains, as colleagues next to her put the bouquets in cardboard boxes ready to be shipped.

Demand for cut flowers has soared in China as standards of living have risen, with the southern province of Yunnan at the epicenter of that boom thanks to its all-year mild climate.

Provincial capital Kunming boasts the biggest flower market in Asia - the second biggest in the world after Aalsmeer in the Netherlands.

Everyday at 3 p.m., a rose auction starts in a huge room where over 600 buyers share the day's supply behind their screens.

"Yunnan...