China Uzbekistan agricultural trade is getting better

As one belt, one road is the key to China's agricultural cooperation. Uzbekistan is also an important node in the "one belt and one road" initiative. In recent years, Uzbekistan has continuously increased investment in its agricultural infrastructure, updated its irrigation system, actively adopted advanced processing technology, continuously improved the quality of agricultural products and industrial added value, and is increasingly favored by Chinese buyers and consumers. Nurkin mamazanov, economic and trade counsellor of Uzbekistan in China, said in an exclusive interview with China trade news recently that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Uzbekistan and China. Uzbekistan has always attached great importance to economic and trade cooperation with China for a long time. It has also keenly observed that the current trend of China's consumption upgrading is becoming increasingly apparent, and there is great potential in the consumer market of high-quality agricultural products. At the same time, China has advantages in the field of agricultural product processing industry, The agricultural trade between the two countries is highly complementary.
The export of agricultural products to China expanded
In recent years, China Ukraine economic and trade cooperation has maintained a good momentum of development, the cooperation mechanism in various fields has been gradually improved, the trade scale has been continuously expanded, and investment cooperation has been steadily promoted. Focusing on the field of agricultural cooperation, China and Ukraine have made positive achievements in agricultural trade, agricultural investment, agricultural labor services and agricultural science and technology cooperation since the establishment of diplomatic relations, and the agricultural trade between the two countries is getting better and better.
According to the statistical data provided by the Embassy of Uzbekistan in China to our reporter, Uzbekistan exported 14 kinds of food to China in 2020, mainly fresh fruits and air dried commodities, which increased to 17 kinds in 2021. In 2021, Uzbekistan exported more than 100000 tons of various agricultural products to the Chinese market, with a value of more than 112 million US dollars. According to current statistics, China accounts for 4.5% of Uzbekistan's total exports of fruits and vegetables.

"This export scale is still growing. Because before the end of this year, we expect to obtain more export licenses for agricultural products to China, including fresh grapes, plums and peaches, Hami melon and kidney beans. At that time, the number of agricultural exports of Uzbekistan to China will exceed 20, and the export volume of fruits and vegetables to China will double." Marzanov marzanov said.

The reporter learned that at present, Uzbekistan has about 60 million mu of cultivated land, 30% of the population is engaged in agriculture, and the agricultural output value accounts for one third of the total national GDP. Chinese consumers have long been familiar with Uzbekistan's cotton production. However, with the increase of the Ukrainian government's investment in science and technology in the agricultural sector, coupled with the advantages of strong local natural light and large temperature difference between day and night, many fruit and vegetable products have achieved both quantity and quality, followed by a surge in export scale. At present, Uzbekistan's output of cheriks, apricots (including dried apricots) and prunes has ranked among the top five in the world, while the output of peaches, plums and grapes ranks among the top ten in the world. Last year, China entered the top three ranks of Uzbekistan's agricultural product consumers for the first time.
The agricultural trade between the two sides is highly complementary
One belt, one road, has been stepped up in recent years, and the trade has been unimpeded. At present, air routes have been opened between many Chinese cities and Tashkent, the capital of Ukraine. The opening of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan international freight route has also provided logistics and transportation convenience for Ukraine to export agricultural products to the international market.
It is reported that at present, Ukraine's fruits and vegetables exported to China include cherry, melon, fresh pepper, pomegranate, mung bean, sesame, raisin, dried apricot, walnut, salty and sweet almond, grape seed, peanut, natural honey, dry pepper, fresh lemon and plum.
"Uzbekistan is a natural partner for China to develop agricultural trade. This is the conclusion we have reached in the practice of international trade." Nurkin mamazanov introduced that according to Ukrainian statistics and observation in recent years, the demand for mung beans is the largest among all agricultural products exported by Uzbekistan to China, increasing from 28000 tons in 2019 to 75000 tons in 2020, and is still growing. This is because, on the one hand, mung beans have a large base in China's household consumption. On the other hand, mung beans are widely used in the food industry, brewing industry and pharmaceutical industry. A considerable part of them have entered the consumer market through the deep processing of Chinese enterprises and are also widely exported to South Korea, Japan and other countries.
"China has comparative advantages in the field of agricultural and sideline products processing, and also needs a large number of high-quality agricultural raw materials, which is one of the important reasons why we are optimistic about the market prospect of China's agricultural products." Nurkin mamazanov said.
"Although full of opportunities, there are also great competition and challenges." Nurkin mamazanov admitted that in recent years, the number of countries exporting agricultural products to China has gradually increased, and Chinese officials have continuously improved the quality standards of agricultural products in inspection and quarantine. In this regard, with the support of the export promotion agency of the Ministry of investment and foreign trade of Uzbekistan, many Ukrainian enterprises have implemented the international quality management system (ISO9001) and food safety certification (ISO22000), and conducted strict inspection on pests and decay of goods exported to China in order to meet the needs of Chinese consumers.
"At present, many fresh agricultural products are transported from Uzbekistan to major cities in China by air. Although it ensures freshness, it is not conducive to reducing costs. Therefore, at present, Uzbekistan is actively solving the problem of screening and storage of new varieties and hopes to actively cooperate with Chinese enterprises in the field of transportation." Nurkin mamazanov said.