The Pacific Northwest is home to family-owned orchards that provide approximately 66 percent of the apples, 74 percent of the pears, and 78 percent of the sweet cherries grown in the United States.

Together, these crops are valued at an average of $3 billion annually, and create tens of thousands of jobs in rural communities throughout the region.

Exports are vital to the industry, with approximately one-third of the apples, pears, and cherries grown in the region going to other countries.

China is a very important market for cherries and apples.

Super-large fresh cherries are expensive in China, but it's now one of the very top export markets for the Northwest. They take about 13 percent of the overall Northwest crop last year.

Last summer, China Eastern Airlines' Cherry Express cargo plane sent fresh cherries from Seattle to Shanghai, 55 times in eight weeks.

The Cherry Express is a unique partnership between online sales giant Alibaba, China Eastern Air Group and Northwest Cherry Growers.

In 2017, about 2.9 million 20-pound boxes of cherries, valued at $127 million, grown and packed in Washington and Oregon were exported to China according to the Northwest Horticultural Council.