However, during the current season, various aspects of the import, customs clearance, distribution and sale of cherries in the Asian country have practically returned to normal.
This, without a doubt, had a positive impact on the 2022-23 cherry campaign, which has shown expeditious travel, unloading and sale of good fruit, even after the Chinese New Year. In this context, our correspondents in China spoke with Benjamin King, CEO of the company Kinyu.
Kinyu is a company created by businessmen with expertise in China, offering a support platform for international companies with supply chains in the Asian country. That is, making available a soft landing for companies, including those in the cherry industry, that do not have a physical presence in China, saving them time and resources so they can focus on downstream operations.
Benjamin King commented on the general aspects of how the situation is for doing business in China after the post-COVID opening and how the business environment is projected:“(The lifting of Covid measures) has boosted confidence levels in business development and long-term planning; During Covid restrictions, most companies delayed any major decisions regarding China. People are now planning their return trips and we are preparing to meet more people face to face.«.
The lifting of Covid restrictions last January, a date that coincided with one of the weeks with the highest number of cherry arrivals in China, generated a wave of infections that, at one point, made exporters fear that the scenario of the previous two years could be repeated; fortunately, this was not the case.
«The recent surge had an impact on production lead times in China and was exacerbated by the Chinese New Year. The same goes for many internal and outsourced processes, everything suffered delays simply because people were sick. This has subsided now, and it seems that most people have been infected and everything is returning to normal fairly quickly.", said Benjamin King.
The opening has allowed business to be carried out normally, and even, according to the CEO of Kinyu, it has increased: “The opening up has greatly increased travel activity – in our own projects, we have our clients travelling to China and suppliers travelling overseas. International travel has come back at full speed and the price of flights, although still high, has not stopped people. In addition, more flight routes are also reopening.”
This cherry season has undoubtedly made a difference in terms of logistics compared to the previous two; transport from abroad and within the country has been streamlined, which has had a positive impact.
«Within China, road transport has increased greatly as domestic restrictions have been released. Overseas logistics and export have become faster.", said Benjamin King.
Finally, regarding China's economic situation, King concluded: «I think the push for protectionism has been weakened by the handling of the Covid situation. I expect to see a slight softening of such policies – for example, China’s government has softened its stance on technology companies, which is widely seen as a move to revive economic performance. The same goes for improving trade relations with other countries as people-to-people exchange and communication increases.»
