Customer shows the apples imprinted with words in Handan city, North China's Hebei province, Dec 24, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Apple, a common, everyday fruit, has become a business opportunity for Chinese retailers and vendors during Christmas.

Apples that are imprinted with cute messages or packaged in fancy boxes could sell for 10 to 20 yuan each during Christmas while the most expensive one could fetch as much as 500 yuan.

Modern Express, a newspaper in Nanjing city, East China's Jiangsu province, reported that a fruit vendor in Nanjing could earn 2,000 yuan in one day by selling apples that are decorated in fancy way.

Christmas Eve, translated as "ping an ye", overlaps with "ping an", meaning safety and peace, in China. The apple, pronounced "ping guo" in Chinese, is also called "ping an guo" when it is sold during Christmas.

With this reason, people in China often give apples to each other as giving it means wishing safety and peace.