Pakistani fruit, juice exports to China surge

Beijing's growing appetite for high-quality fruits, juices provides lucrative opportunity

Pakistan has witnessed a significant increase in its fruit and juice exports to China this year. According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), during the January-July period of 2024, Pakistan's frozen orange juice exports to China reached unprecedented levels, showcasing the growing demand for Pakistani produce in the Chinese market.

Pakistan Embassy Commercial Counsellor Ghulam Qadir said that the surge in exports can be attributed to the China-Pakistan FTA as well as concerted efforts by the Pakistani government and exporters to diversify and expand their international markets. He added that China's growing appetite for high-quality, nutritious fruits and juices has provided a lucrative opportunity for Pakistani producers to capitalise on the market.

"From January-July 2024, exports of fruit juices and other related items to China crossed $1.546 million, an increase of 226% as compared to the same period of last year. Frozen orange juice exports crossed $1.54 million," he said. Pakistani fresh mangoes are also gaining popularity in the Chinese market and in the first seven months of this year, 4,214 kg of mangoes were imported by Chinese enterprises. Pakistan's PM has also gifted mangoes to the Chinese leadership and Chinese enterprises this year.

The commercial counsellor said that the robust export growth underscores the immense potential for further collaboration and trade between Pakistan and China in the agriculture sector.

Wei Ling Chen, Regional Director of Direct Access Chinese enterprise, told CEN that this year her company imported three to five tons of Pakistani mangoes, and before confirming import of mangoes, MERAPC Solutions conducted a lot of research and came to know that Pakistan, as the birthplace of mangoes, has more than 300 varieties. They chose Sindhri and Chaunsa, which are known as the best mangoes, and promoted these two varieties in the Chinese market so that more domestic consumers can taste the characteristics of Pakistani mangoes. "To ensure the quality of mangoes, we choose to cooperate with high-quality mango orchards and choose the best varieties, planting techniques, picking and packaging. In particular, Pakistani mangoes are naturally grown therefore the size is not uniform, and the skin is not so bright and beautiful, but the pure mango flavour is delicious."