By Jiang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-23 10:49

Eager to cash in on the promising Chinese consumer market, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe are planning to increase exports to China.

Wines produced by Hungarian firms are displayed at the Commodities Exhibition of Latin American and Central Eastern European Countries, which opened in Beijing yesterday.[China Daily]

Columbia expects to introduce more agricultural products, coffee in particular, to China, Alejandro Ossa, an official with Colombian Embassy to China, said at the Commodities Exhibition of Latin American and Central Eastern European Countries, which opened in Beijing yesterday.

Exports of coffee - which Ossa describes as the "flagship product" of Columbia - to China underwent robust growth to the Chinese market, increasing 10-fold over the last five years.

But Ossa said it is still "in the earlier stage", and an association representing 560,000 Colombian coffee farmers would attach more importance to the Chinese market.

Some 150 exhibitors from Latin American and Central and Eastern European countries are showcasing agricultural products, food, alcohol and equipment during the three-day event. Products on show included bananas from Ecuador, fish from Uruguay and geese from Hungary.

Organized by the Ministry of Commerce, the event aims to promote imports from Latin American and Central and Eastern European countries to achieve more-balanced trade, director of the trade development bureau of the Ministry of Commerce Feng Hongzhang said.

Some 3,000 professional domestic buyers from trading companies and supermarkets have been invited.

Flavourings and cates from Mexico attract a Chinese housewife at the Expo. The Latin American and Central and Eastern countries are eager to cash in on the promising Chinese market.[newsphoto]

Foreign enterprises are encouraged by the Chinese government to make full use of such international fairs, expos and trading events to increase awareness of their competitive products and services in the Chinese market.

Last year, China' trade with Latin American countries hit US$70.2 billion, up 39.2 percent from a year earlier. China mainly exported textiles, TV sets, DVD players and fuels to the countries. From Latin America, China mostly imported agricultural products, soybeans and integrated circuits.

China's imports from, and exports to, Latin America are both diversifying, and trade of high value-added products is increasing.

In 2006, China's trade with 13 countries in Central and Eastern Europe more than doubled from two years earlier to reach US$22.66 billion, according to General Administration of Customs statistics.

In the first three quarters of this year, imports and exports between China and Central and Eastern European countries reached US$19.46 billion, up 21 percent year-on-year.