China's average yield of saltwater-tolerant rice in some areas has reached over 7.5 tons per hectare, according to data from a research team that completed the production evaluation on Friday across the country.

The new strains of saltwater-tolerant rice were planted in about 6,667 hectares of saline-alkali soil.

Since 2019, more than 3,333 hectares of rice were planted this year in Weifang City, east China's Shandong province, which has most of the province's saline-alkaline areas.

"After trial production, the per hectare yield is 9,379.5 kilograms, 1,335 kilograms more than last year. It should be said that the productivity has improved considerably," said Zheng Yihong, Leader of the expert group of the saltwater-tolerant rice planting base in Shandong.

"The highest per hectare yield reached 12,900 kilograms, with average per hectare yield up more than 10 percent," said Zhang Ming, chief engineer of the Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center.