Walking into the artificial climate laboratory of the rare earth center's No 2 base in the Baotou Rare Earth High-Tech Industrial Development Zone – in Baotou city, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region – rows of plant culture stands illuminated by artificial light sources soon come into sight.

"All the light sources in this climate laboratory are artificial, and the light chip uses a variety of rare earth light materials. We conducted experiments with pure artificial light sources to explore the growth of different plants in various light environments. As a result, the light source using rare earth materials is the one we use best right now," said Zhang Tong, an associate researcher at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The cherry cracking rate is an important factor affecting cherries' yield and revenue.

Through the experiment, and after the rare earth light source is used, the cherry cracking rate has been effectively decreased. With the cherries now ready at least 10 days in advance of the market, the income per mu (0.07 hectares) has increased by 40 percent to 80 percent.