Regarding the operation of the main wholesale markets for imported fresh fruit, including Guangzhou, Shanghai, Jiaxing, it should be noted that they are open and there has been a relaxation of Covid-19 health measures, as a result of recent announcements by the Chinese authorities.
Guangzhou: A special pass is no longer required for those entering the imported fruit area. The PCR test requirement is eliminated. Only a green health code and no travel record to high-risk areas.
Shanghai: PCR test requirement of 48 hours (and not 24 hours). Green health code and no record of travel to high-risk areas. At the beginning of week 50, the PCR test requirement was eliminated.
Jiaxing: PCR test requirement removed. Only green health code and no record of travel to high-risk areas.
As for the main ports, there have also been changes that have had a positive impact on the import of Chilean fruit. Jimmy Zhu, from Guangzhou Port Group, the group in charge of the administration of Nansha Port, the main port of the city of Guangzhou, shared with our correspondents in China official information on how the port has sought to optimize the processes for the import of fresh fruit.
The port has prepared for the peak arrival of Chilean cherries in mid- to late-December by introducing measures to ensure smooth and rapid clearance of containers. It is estimated that more than 10 Cherry Express ships loaded with Chilean cherries will arrive at this port by the end of December.
The port received more than 25 thousand containers of fruit in the last 11 months, which represents four times more than what they had received in the same period of the previous year.
Customs clearance procedures for imported fruits at Nansha Port will be drastically optimized, with containers transported directly by truck to cold chain warehouses within the port's container terminals, where inspection, disinfection and nucleic acid testing procedures will be completed.
Nansha is part of the Guangzhou Nansha International Cold Chain project that authorizes the port as a designated inspection ground for imported fruits, and has officially started handling inspection since October.
Covering an area of 208,000 square meters, the project envisages the construction of six cold chain warehouses with a storage capacity of 460,000 tons. The construction of the first phase of the project, which includes three cold chain warehouses, has been completed, equipping the port with 162 inspection platforms. Since local customs began regularly handling inspection of these facilities in October, the daily fruit inspection capacity in Nansha has quadrupled compared to the previous year.
Local customs have also pledged to facilitate efficient clearance of perishable agricultural products, while strictly regulating the food safety of imported fruit.
With this improvement in customs efficiency, imported fruit is expected to be transported directly to the local fruit market within two hours after unloading of containers.
