Chinese demand of South American produce boosts Chilean exports

Global Business

Chinese demand of South American produce boosts Chilean exports

Chile’s fruit exports have been growing significantly over the last years, particularly because of the interest of China in the South American Country’s produce.

CCTV America’s Paulo Cabral went to see a cherry farm that sends most of it’s production across the Pacific to Chinese buyers. Follow Paulo Cabral on Twitter @PCabralReporter

Claudio Vergara has been running his family’s cherry production for the last for two decades, as his father did before him.

What is new is the drone that Claudio now uses to monitor and check on his orchards – everything to insure the quality of the produce. All of his production is exported, 90 percent of it to China, and the farmer said Chinese buyers only accept the very best fruits.

There’s growing concern worldwide with healthier eating and this creates great opportunities for producers of fruits and vegetables.

From being handpicked at the orchard, the cherries go straight to a refrigerated truck and they have to be kept cold until they reach the shelves around planet.

The same goes for many of the other fresh fruits exported by Chile. According to the Chilean Fruit Producers Federation, FedFrutas, fresh fruit exports reached a total of about 1.1 billion dollars last year.

The cherries were the stars, responding for about $600 million mostly because of Chinese demand. Now Chilean producers are preparing to start also shipments of nectarine to the Chinese market.

The president of FedFrutas, also a former Chilean ambassador to China, said farmers here are resolved to see these figures grow even further.

Chile was lucky to have the environmental and geographical conditions to be a prime food producer. And it seems to be displaying also the competence to make the best of it.


Julie Kim on China-Chile economic ties

The free-trade agreement between China and Chile has been in place for around a decade; how has the deal impacted both countries and will it play a role in China’s Belt and Road initiative? For more on this question, CCTV America’s Rachelle Akuffo spoke with Julie Kim, director of the Asia Pacific Center at Diego Portales University.