Photo:VCG
China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced on Friday that it has allowed, effective immediately, the import of Hungarian fresh cherries that meet relevant requirements.
It is part of the achievements during Chinese top leader's state visit to Hungary from Wednesday to Friday, during which the two sides have elevated ties to all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership and reached a number of deals in cooperation involving the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), finance, green development, agriculture, tourism and culture.
As China's imports of fresh cherries jump significantly, it is expected that Hungarian fresh cherries will gradually claim a foothold in the fast-growing Chinese market, an industry insider said.
Last year, China's cherry trade reached 351,200 tons, up 77.69 percent from the reading in 2019, data from Chinese research firm Zhiyan Consultancy showed. Among which, China imported 348,100 tons of fresh cherries. And the country roughly consumes 22.7 percent of the global cherry output in 2022, the world's largest market.
In addition to Hungary, about 11 countries and regions have also obtained quarantines access qualification for cherry exports to China to date, including Chile, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.
Observers also said the expanding agricultural trade could be a new growth point in driving the overall trade between China and Hungary, who are each other's major trading partners. Currently, China is Hungary's largest trading partner outside of Europe, while Hungary is one of China's main trading partners in the Central and Eastern European region. Hungary is also one of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) with the largest number of agricultural product export permits to China.
According to the joint statement on the establishment of an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era released by China and Hungary on Thursday, the two sides recognized the huge potential in agricultural cooperation between them and the sound progress made under the framework of the China-CEEC agricultural cooperation mechanism.
The two sides have vowed to utilize the China-Hungary high-level working group on agriculture and other mechanisms, in order to strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation between agricultural enterprises of both sides, widen market access, promote the cooperation of "small and beautiful" projects, and strengthen cooperation in areas such as animal health and joint research and development of deep processing technologies for agricultural products.
China's GAC has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on animal and plant quarantine for import and export with Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture during the top leader's visit.
The bilateral trade volume between China and Hungary in 2023 reached $14.52 billion, an increase of 73 percent compared with that in 2013, according to the China-Hungary Investment and Cooperation Report.
2024年5月10日，中国海关总署宣布立即允许符合相关要求的匈牙利新鲜樱桃进口。这一决定是在中国最高领导人从5月8日至5月10日对匈牙利进行国事访问期间达成的成果之一。两国在此期间将双边关系提升为全天候全面战略伙伴关系，并签署了涉及“一带一路”倡议、金融、绿色发展、农业、旅游和文化等多个领域的合作协议。
随着中国新鲜樱桃进口量的显著增加，预计匈牙利新鲜樱桃将逐渐在快速增长的中国市场上占据一席之地。去年，中国樱桃贸易量达到35.12万吨，比2019年增长77.69%。其中，中国进口了34.81万吨新鲜樱桃，占2022年全球樱桃产量的22.7%，是世界上最大的樱桃消费市场。
目前，除了匈牙利外，还有约11个国家和地区获得了对华樱桃出口的检疫准入资格，包括智利、美国、加拿大、澳大利亚、新西兰和阿根廷。观察人士指出，不断扩大的农业贸易可能成为推动中匈整体贸易的新增长点。目前，中国是匈牙利在欧洲以外最大的贸易伙伴，而匈牙利是中国在中东欧地区的重要贸易伙伴之一，且是获得最多农业产品对华出口许可的中东欧国家之一。
根据5月9日发布的《关于建立新时代全天候全面战略伙伴关系的联合声明》，中匈双方认识到农业合作的巨大潜力和在中东欧合作框架下取得的良好进展。双方承诺利用中匈农业高层工作组等机制，强化双方农业企业间的经济、贸易和投资合作，扩大市场准入，推动“小而美”项目的合作，并在动物健康和农产品深加工技术的联合研发等领域加强合作。
此外，中国海关总署在此次访问期间还与匈牙利农业部签署了动植物检疫合作谅解备忘录。
2023年，中匈双边贸易额达到145.2亿美元，比2013年增长了73%。这些数据表明，中匈经贸关系在过去十年中有了显著提升，并有望在未来进一步深化。
