In order to strengthen ties to enhance joint work to improve and increase exports of Chilean fruits to the port of Nansha, part of the Guangzhou Port Group in China, senior executives of that port entity visited Frutas de Chile, where they met with its general manager, Miguel Canala-Echeverría and Ignacio Caballero, marketing director.
In conversation with Frutas de Chile, Huang Bo, president of the Guangzhou Port Group in China, along with highlighting that this is his first time in Chile, described the positive outcome of the meeting and the great interest they have in promoting the entry of greater volumes of Chilean fruit through these port facilities. “This visit had two objectives, the first of them to show our gratitude to Frutas de Chile for promoting exports from Chile to China, as well as to express our full support and efforts in relation to the Cherry Express that arrives today at our facilities. Secondly, we wanted to explore more opportunities for collaboration between the Guangzhou Port Group and Frutas de Chile to promote a greater volume of products from Chile to China, such as table grapes, avocados, apples and plums, among others” he highlighted.
President Bo also described some of the benefits that Guangzhou Port Group’s Nansha Port offers for Chilean fruit arrivals: “We definitely hope to have more Chilean fruit through our port, first because we are the largest port in southern China, and second because we offer very good connectivity to reach South Asia and inland China, allowing consumers to enjoy the freshness and quality of Chilean fresh fruit. We believe that the good relations between the Chilean and Chinese governments allow us to implement better mechanisms to boost trade between both countries. In addition, we believe that it is a mutual desire to promote a greater volume of fresh fruit to reach China, especially using our facilities, which are among the best in the world.”
For his part, the general manager of Frutas de Chile, Miguel Canala-Echeverría, observed: “It was very positive to receive this important delegation, where in addition to thanking us for the coordination for the arrival of the Cherry Express, they also told us about their interest in working with the sector in the coordination of a system that allows the implementation of new charter ships for other fresh Chilean fruits. They told us that they have facilities to handle a greater volume of fruit, since they have new refrigeration facilities and a very good distribution network in China, as well as very good relations with the Customs authorities.”
The director added that “this was a very good opportunity to express our interest as Frutas de Chile in analyzing the implementation of some combined operations to India from Nansha, which was very well received by the representatives of this port, stating that they will see the possibility of making it happen through conversations with some shipping companies in China, since this transit would require additional cargo to allow this operation.”
The representative of Frutas de Chile commented that, during the meeting, the implementation of paperless or electronic phytosanitary certificates for Chilean fresh fruit exports was also analyzed. “This point was very well received, as it supports the agility of the documentary process both for Chile and for them at the port. For this reason, they agreed that, upon their return, they will contact the authorities of the Chinese Customs in Guangzhou to see the possibility of advancing this system, perhaps with a pilot.”
In this regard, it is important to note that there is currently an agreement between the Chinese Customs authorities and the SAG to implement this type of certificates within the first half of 2024.
The visit was led by Huang Bo, Chairman of Guangzhou Port Group Co. Ltd., accompanied by Li Mingzhong, Vice Chairman of the General Council of Guangzhou Port Group, and Ben Li, Deputy General Manager. Lan Yongnong, Deputy General Manager of Nansha Container Terminal Branch Company, Wang Sheng, Deputy General Manager of Grain and General Cargo of Nansha Container Terminal Branch Company, and Jerry Peng, Deputy General Manager of Unitrans Agency of Guangzhou Port, and Pan Chen, Director of Unitrans Agency of Guangzhou Port, also attended.
Ignacio Caballero, Marketing Director of Frutas de Chile, not only highlighted the importance of this visit, but also indicated that they are actively promoting fruit exports in wholesale markets, retail and on social media: “In China we have various promotional activities underway for both cherries and other Chilean fruits, which allow us to publicize the origin of our fruits, their availability on the market, and thus promote greater consumption, but also knowledge of Chile and its fruit.”
Nanjing Portto
According to data from Frutas de Chile, during the 2022-2023 season, the port of Nansha received 104,256 tons of fresh Chilean fruit, ranking third as the port of entry for the Chilean fruit sector in China, accounting for 181% of total national fruit shipments to the Chinese market.
Nansha Port, part of Guangzhou Port Group, is located in southern China. It is the only deepwater container terminal in the western Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, already loading mega vessels (18,000 TEU). It covers 14 dynamic city clusters including Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhongshan and Jiangmen. It is the 4th busiest container terminal in China and 5th in the world. It has 36 gateways/24 gateways. Plus 8 weekly sailings to North America/EU, and over 75 sailings worldwide.
