North China land port sets record with exports

By Liu Shangjing (chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2016-01-13

The Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of the city of Manzhouli in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, a land port with connections to nearby Russia, has announced that the city exported 390,800 tons of fruits and vegetables to Russia in 2015, worth $205 million, a slight decline from a year ago, but a 12.94 percent increase in value.

Fruit exports were up substantially at 159,700 tons, worth $102 million, up 12.9 percent from a year ago and 30.02 percent year-on-year, but vegetable exports were obviously down, at 231,100 tons, worth $103 million, for a year-on-year decrease of 12.11 percent.

This is the first time for a fruit - vegetable imbalance in the past three years, with two possible reasons: one, land port's exports to Russia cover the long distance on the Trans-Siberian Railway, with the fruit exports growing steadily; two, there was a good fruit harvest in China's primary fruit growing regions -- Hunan and Jiangxi provinces -- in 2015 bringing prices down, a big advantage for exporters; and, Russia is experiencing an economic downturn, and is paying more attention to local agriculture, reducing external dependence in the vegetable market.

This year, Russia says it will put restrictions on agricultural imports and ban imports from Turkey and the Ukraine, which means more market space for Chinese fruits and vegetables, both a challenge and opportunity for China.