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https://scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3171029/export-deals-china-come-its-aid-africa-ships-lemons
China/ Diplomacy

As export deals with China come to its aid, Africa ships lemons

  • Long-discussed agreements have been struck to ease the obligations imposed on African traders to enter the Chinese market
  • It follows China’s promise to open ‘green lanes’ for agricultural products, speed up inspection and quarantine, and lift tariffs on more products
Regulations have been eased to facilitate the export of lemons from African nations to China. Photo: AFP

An easing of trade rules for some African countries by the Chinese customs authorities is allowing more agricultural products from the continent into China.

South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe are among the African countries that have recently signed revised protocols allowing them access to the lucrative Chinese consumer market.

The move is in line with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s promise during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) last year to open “green lanes” for agricultural products into China, speed up inspection and quarantine procedures, and broaden the products on which no tariff is charged.

South Africa, one of the largest lemon producers, can now export the fruit after China removed a cold-storage requirement, in place to prevent pests, that blocked many of its products. It has opened a market that is expected to generate millions of dollars in new revenue.

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Last month, South Africa shipped its first batch of 100,000 lemons to China. It also in December signed a protocol with China on the export of pears, which is expected to increase the 22 per cent share of the country’s exported pears that go to the Far East.

The CEO of the Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa (CGA), Justin Chadwick, said the revised lemon protocol had taken six years to finalise, following lobbying from the industry.

“It’s an immense milestone when it comes to expanding access to the Chinese market,” Chadwick said, explaining that the lemons were susceptible to cold damage at the previously required shipping temperatures.

Chadwick said that until the deal, Argentina and Chile had dominated southern hemisphere lemon exports to China, but that South Africa was expected to surpass both, exporting 50,000 tonnes of lemons annually, bringing in 700 million rand in export revenue and creating 2,500 jobs.

Zimbabwe, too, can export fruit to China after it clinched a lucrative sweet citrus export deal with Beijing that covers grapefruit, sweet oranges, mandarins, sour oranges and lemons.

“The sweet and juicy Zimbabwean citrus will join the Chinese market,” said Guo Shaochun, China’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, early this year. “We are implementing President Xi’s pledge that China will open a green channel. It will benefit more Zimbabwean farmers.”

“The green lane can work when Beijing puts its mind to it,” said Yun Sun, director of the Stimson Centre’s China programme in Washington. “This is an area with identified potential for growth.”

Global research and advisory company Oxford Business Group noted in its recent report that despite global supply chain challenges, trade between China and Africa rose to record levels in 2021.

It said the increase partially reflected a shift in Chinese policy away from state-backed investments and towards trade and cooperation. According to Chinese customs data, trade with Africa increased by 35 per cent last year, to a record high of US$254 billion.

Virginia Mavhunga displays fruits and vegetables by the roadside for sale to motorists in Murehwa, Zimbabwe. Photo: AP
Virginia Mavhunga displays fruits and vegetables by the roadside for sale to motorists in Murehwa, Zimbabwe. Photo: AP

This growth was driven largely by an increase in Chinese exports to the continent, Oxford Business Group said. “Volumes look set to continue growing, with trade constituting a key element in a joint plan released by Africa and China at the end of last year during the meeting of the FOCAC,” it said.

“This reflects a growing Chinese appetite for African products, with agricultural goods doing particularly well: between July 2020 and July 2021 exports of rubber, cotton and coffee doubled.”

In January, lawmakers in the Chinese province of Hunan approved regulation to boost trade with Africa. A free-trade zone will be established to help grow trade activity.

“The CGA has had positive engagements with the minister of agriculture … regarding expanded market access in China,” Chadwick said.

Previously, South African farmers had been exporting grapefruit, oranges and soft citrus varieties to China.

In Kenya, during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Nairobi, the two countries signed a revised protocol to allow fresh avocado and aquatic products into the Chinese market, which previously would accept only frozen fruits – locking out several traders in the East African country which could not afford freezing facilities.

Most Chinese exports to Africa are finished products – from textiles to electronics – while African sales to China are dominated by raw materials and unprocessed products, resulting in a trade surplus in China’s favour.

To help balance trade, Xi promised in November to grow the value of imports from Africa to US$300 billion in the next three years.

In a speech to the FOCAC, he said that China would offer US$10 billion in trade finance to support African exports.

Several African countries have recently signed deals allowing the export of agricultural products such as chilli peppers, cashew nuts, sesame seeds and spices into China.

Tanzania began exporting soybeans to China in 2020, as Beijing sought to cut its reliance on the United States and Brazil. Similar deals have been reached for ­avocados, tea, coffee and roses from Kenya, coffee and soybeans from Ethiopia, beef products from Namibia and Botswana, fruit from South Africa, and coffee from Rwanda.