The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word LICHI
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
L
I
C
H
I
More clues leading to the result LICHI
- Leaders of light industry claim high interest in Chinese growth
- Fruit tree in public highway
- Fruit that gives a large number life force
- Fruit in bowl I chilled…
- Fruit I found overlooking church among couple of limes
- Fruit identified by some Bengali children
- Fruit for one lunch — it is prepared with nut removed
- Left one child with one fruit
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Chinese growth" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case chinese growth = lichi.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.