"Chile has come a long way in China"
Chile has earned a special place in the Chinese market as a producer and exporter of fruits. Chilean cherries are the favorite of Chinese buyers and importers, and more and more avocados are being consumed. Chile was one of the first Western countries to obtain access to export fruits to China, and, with its current offer composed of kiwis, apples, grapes, plums, blueberries, avocados and cherries, it has become one of the largest suppliers of fresh agricultural products from China.
The growth of Chilean exports is impressive. In 2008, only 8 exported its fresh fruit exports to Asia, mainly to Japan and South Korea, but in 2015, Chile had become the second largest supplier in terms of value, with exports valued at almost one billion US dollars.
The key to its success lies in a united national industry backed by strong trade associations, an active Government for quality and a very committed Chilean embassy, represented by an excellent agricultural aggregate resident in China.
The key is the dedication
Álvaro Aspee has spent more than 6 years working in the fresh agricultural products industry in China. He was agricultural attaché of the Embassy of Chile in China for four years, during which he visited the wholesale markets of 25 provinces and more than 50 cities throughout China.
Aspee explains: “Chile has advanced a lot in China, and its success can be explained in three ways. To begin with, the Embassy of Chile hired an agricultural attaché that works full-time to improve the agricultural portfolio of his country, and, since it is one of the few countries with this type of representation, for more than ten years, China has considers a priority market for Chilean exports. In addition, the Chilean team in China works closely with the quality agency of Chile, which usually visits China to collaborate and offer seminars and training projects. Finally, the private sector has contributed and invested a lot in this process. The producers and exporters are involved in industry associations, which are very well organized, know the market very well and are in constant contact with their partners in both countries. The Embassy of Chile in China, the quality agency and trade associations work together to understand what is of interest to Chinese consumers".
Trade and mutual interests
"The Chilean economy is backed by numerous free trade agreements, and one of the reasons Chile is so successful in accessing other markets is that it welcomes foreign products with open arms. Its counter-season is a good argument for this, since it does not compete against Chinese producers, although it only explains it in part. All the products that Chile grows are off-season, but it can only export some of them to China, backed by mutual trade and agreements. For example, there is a joint venture agricultural project with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture near Tianjin, in which Chilean growers are teaching Chinese to work with Chilean fruit varieties. Through projects like this one, Chilean representatives give back to their Chinese counterparts, rather than just 'asking'Aspe continues.
Negotiate business protocols carefully
Not only is it important to get access to the market; The viability of business protocols is also crucial to have a prosperous export market.
"As with any other contract, they have to allow us to work. Each clause of the protocol is important to reduce costs and make exports viable. Sometimes, there are communication or management problems, and, if the negotiations on the protocols are forced too much, without worrying about the process, the original protocol might not be enough, and changing it is a long and tedious process. The Chinese AQSIQ advances step by step, and, if the protocol has been poorly developed from the beginning, changing it will cost a lot of time and money, which could be invested in negotiating other fruits. In the case of Chile, the agreed protocols have worked well from the beginning, so it has not been necessary to renegotiate them and it has been possible to negotiate the following products immediately.".
"For example, the negotiations to export avocados took a long time, because, at the beginning, the AQSIQ insisted that the avocado is a fruit and, therefore, capable of transporting the fruit fly to the country. As a result, he wanted Chilean producers to spray avocados before exporting them, a process that deteriorates their quality and prevents them from reaching China. For that reason, part of the responsibility of the Chilean team was to convince its Chinese counterparts that avocados can not contain the fruit fly, and, at present, fumigating is not part of that protocol and Chilean producers can export avocados to China without problems".
"An effective way to advance in a process is to have an agricultural aggregate that resides all the time in China. If there is no one to follow closely the process, it will become too complex, so you have to take care of it in person".
Source: Freshplaza.es
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