This Thursday morning, ProChile, Chile's export promotion agency, officially launched the eighth version of Chile Week China 2023, which will take place between October 14 and 20 in four cities in the Asian giant; among the activities that will be promoted, the export of cherries will be the protagonist.
Various authorities attended the event, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alberto van Klaveren, the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations, Claudia Sanhueza, the General Director of ProChile, Ignacio Fernández, and the Chinese ambassador to Chile, Niu Qingbao, who highlighted the importance of this week to strengthen trade relations between the two countries.
countries.
The exchange of new technologies and knowledge, as well as opportunities for growth of small and medium-sized businesses, were some of the points on which the greatest emphasis was placed. “This year we are resuming in-person meetings, after the pandemic, so it is more important from the point of view of the businessmen and entrepreneurs who can participate,” explained the
Director of ProChile.
Regarding the fruit aspect, reaching cities in the interior of China is one of the main objectives, and in particular, four cities will be visited: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen, which is one of the main ports connected to the south of the country. In this regard, the Undersecretary of International Relations explained that “There are a significant number of collaboration and facilitation agreements
our products in different areas, such as agriculture, which we will provide in detail at the appropriate time.”
The cherry is still the protagonist
"We are working together with Asoex to boost this season as much as possible, the cherry boom has been spectacular and we want to continue taking advantage of these opportunities, and I want to highlight the importance of our country being able to export fresh fruit to destinations as complex as this one.
China is a value that we have to emphasize, everything that has to do with crops, cold chains, transportation, packaging, etc. added Ignacio Fernandez.
For his part, the General Manager of Asoex, Miguel Canala-Echeverria, explained that, although it is still too early to provide concrete estimates, exports are expected to be less than the 100 million boxes initially projected, due to the low temperatures of spring. In any case, it would be a minor decrease, since the industry will still have growth compared to the previous year, so the cherry continues to be a protagonist in international trade.
Expansion into China's interior
“We are going to have significant growth. We have done a lot of work in China, with the aim of ensuring that the product can be received without problems, and we are investing almost 5 million dollars in promotion. The cherry has become the symbol of the Chinese New Year, and people are waiting for its arrival. This year, promotional activities are intensifying inland. Normally, consumption is on the coast, such as in Shanghai and Hong Kong, but there has also been a very significant economic development in the provinces, and therefore an important part of the promotion will focus on those regions, in order to expand our presence in the country.” ended.
