Chile is to make a love movie set in the country's cherry orchards to capitalize on the huge success exporters of the fruit have experienced in the Chinese market.

Local media reports that the aim is to take advantage of the success in China, where the cherry is considered a symbol of love and happiness. The film will be made during the 2018-19 cherry season, which has recently got underway, La Cuarta reported.

China is Chile's leading cherry market by far, last year receiving more than 80% of Chile's total exports of a little over 180,000 metric tons (MT). The increase meant that cherries were Chile's third-most exported fruit.

The movie, which will be called El Color de las Cerezas [The Color of Cherries], will tell the story of a Chinese man who falls in love with a young woman at a Chilean orchard.

Jorge Lopez, president of the Chilean Association of Directors and Screenwriters, and one of the initiative's drivers, said the movie would be filmed during the harvest season, with additional shooting to take place afterward.

Lopez explained that while he was in Asia, he saw the appreciation locals have for the fruit, and how quickly it sells.

"It fascinates them. It's got to the point that when you say Chile, right away they say cherries," he was quoted as saying.