Chinese envoy denies reports on tainted cherries are ‘retaliation’ against Chile

New ambassador Niu Qingbao dismisses concerns that stories about the imported fruit testing positive for Covid-19 had devastated exports

He says relations between the countries are at a ‘historical high’ and talks up prospects for more cooperation on 5G and lithium

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The Chilean embassy in China denied imported cherries that tested positive for Covid-19 had come from Chile. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 6:00pm, 16 Mar 2021Updated: 6:00pm, 16 Mar 2021

China’s new ambassador to Chile Niu Qingbao denied that Chinese reports on imported cherries testing positive for traces of coronavirus were “retaliation” against the Latin American nation, and talked up the prospects for closer cooperation on 5G and mineral investment.

Niu, who was officially appointed to the ambassador role in early March, told Chilean newspaper La Tercera on Sunday that relations between the countries were at a “historical high”, dismissing concerns in Chile that stories circulating in China about contaminated cherries had devastated Chilean exports of the fruit.

“Regarding the export of cherries to China, there is no so-called retaliation against the Chilean side,” he said in a written response to the paper.

Niu was referring to speculation in Chile that Chinese officials had not clarified the reports – which did not say where the cherries had been imported from – to potentially send a warning over concerns such as Chinese investments in the country.

“The speculation is purely imagined and has no factual basis,” he said.

Chile, one of the world’s largest exporters of cherries, had sought to quell concerns over the fruit, but public fears sent cherry prices into a tailspin. The Chilean embassy in China earlier denied that the batch of imported cherries in Jiangxi province that tested positive for Covid-19 in late December had originated from Chile.