China's Shanghai welcomes first imports of South African avocados

SHANGHAI, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- China's first imports of avocados grown in South Africa have arrived in east China's Shanghai Municipality, Shanghai Customs said on Thursday.

A total of 22 tonnes of avocados passed entry quarantine on Tuesday, customs officials said, noting that the produce benefited from streamlined customs clearance procedures for agricultural imports from Africa.

Some of the avocados will be exhibited at the upcoming seventh China International Import Expo, which is scheduled to be held from Nov. 5 to 10.

In August, South Africa followed Kenya and Tanzania to become the third African country to secure market access to China for its fresh avocados.

In the first eight months of 2024, China imported African agricultural products valued at a total of 28.47 billion yuan (about 4.02 billion U.S. dollars), up 4.8 percent year on year, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Shanghai alone accounted for 6.12 billion yuan of those imports, reflecting year-on-year growth of 15.5 percent.