Chile CHina meeting

A delegation from the Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Shanxi travelled to Chile last week to seek news ways of strengthening bilateral collaboration in the fields of science and technology in the fruit industry.

Zhao Huaming, vice governor of Lioning and Wan Yixin, deputy governor of Shanxi, met with Chile’s deputy agriculture secretary, Claudio Ternicier, and representatives from Asoex and Agriculture Policies Office of the Agriculture Ministry of Chile Odepa at the Agriculture Ministry in Santiago for discussions on a range of issues, including how to improve the logistical channels for Chilean fruit arriving at Chinese ports.

Asoex secretary general Edmundo Araya said that the exporter association and Chile’s Technological Fruit Consortium (CTF) would look at the possibility of setting up a collaboration agreement for genetic improvement programmes for peaches, apples and cherries together with the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the Agricultural Research Institute.

Asoex also discussed the possibility of gaining access for Chilean blueberries at a greater number of Chinese ports, for which Asoex said the transport infrastructure and cold chain logistics would need to be improved.