Beijing is ready to meet fruit and vegetable demand in Russia after Moscow’s food embargo on the West, a Chinese commerce official said. Boosting agricultural trade, already worth $20 billion a year, would further cement Russia’s links with China.
The eastern Chinese region of Shandong is ready to meet these
demands, Izvestia newspaper reported
Wednesday, citing the director of the Department of Commerce in
the province, Zhang Qingwei.
Situated on the east coast between Beijing and Shanghai, Shandong
is China’s agricultural powerhouse – producing $141 billion in
agricultural products annually. The region is home to 94 million
people.
Shandong is ready to supply carrots, ginger, garlic, pepper,
peas, pumpkins, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers and
broccoli as well as, peaches, pears, grapefruit and watermelon to
Russia – and in return is eager to import grain, rapeseed and
honey from Russia.
“If we reorient from the West to China, even 1 percent of
total agricultural products from Shandong will more than cover
the needs of Russia,” Yakov Lyubovedsky, head of the Russian
Organic Farming Union, told Izvestia.
Qingwei, the Shandong official, said that a delegation from
Shandong is currently in talks with representatives from Russian
agriculture groups to better understand the supply and demand
dynamics of Russia’s new import substitution policy, which hopes
to boost domestic agriculture.
Roselkhoznadzor, Russia’s consumer protection agency, has
confirmed that Moscow and Beijing are discussing an agricultural
trade deal, and that China is interested in doing more business
with Russia.
READ MORE: China to start direct sales of fruit and
vegetables to Russia
Earlier, RT reported that China is planning to begin the
direct sales of fruit and vegetables to Russia in light of the
loss of European products on the Russian market.
On August 7, Russia introduced a one-year ban on imports of some
agricultural products from the EU, US, Australia, Canada,
Australia and Norway. The move could cost the EU and other
Western countries the equivalent of $9 billion in food exports.
Article source: http://rt.com/business/190196-china-ready-russia-exports/
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