China has now become Chile’s largest trading partner
Chile and China signed a protocol for the access of Chilean almonds to the Chinese market. The new agreement is intended to facilitate the export of Chilean in-shell almonds to China.
This protocol allowed Chile to begin exporting fresh peaches and apricots to China, making Chile the first country in the world where all major categories of fresh fruit are permitted to enter the Chinese market.
The signing was carried out by the Chilean Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, and the deputy director of the General Administration of Customs of China, Wang Lingjun, at the La Moneda Palace, the Presidential House, accompanied by the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, and the Foreign Minister. Chilean, Alberto van Klaveren.
Boric explained that Chile is China’s main supplier of fresh fruits from temperate climates and is also the only country in the world that has all its fresh fruits authorized to enter the Chinese market.
“We are sending pears, plums, blueberries, apples, cherries to China, highly appreciated and valued by the population of this country. China is a giant market that gives us many opportunities to continue growing and we are very happy to advance in this matter,” he added.
According to official data, Chile has a national area of almond trees of 8,724.2 hectares, according to data from 2023, and they are mainly found in the O’Higgins and Metropolitana regions, both in the central area of the country. Chile’s almond production for the 2023/24 season was estimated to reach 11,400 metric tons, marking an increase of 0.88% compared with the previous season. Meanwhile, exports for the 2023/24 season were forecast at 8,300 metric tons, representing a 0.6% increase, with Argentina, Ecuador and Russia as the major overseas markets.
China has now become Chile’s largest trading partner, largest source of imports, largest destination for exports and largest market for agricultural product exports. Chile reportedly exported over 574,000 metric tons of fresh fruit to China during the 2022/23 season, with over half of this volume being cherries.
