Chongqing to open airport, port to imported fruit

Chongqing will open an airport and a port for importing overseas fruits in 2014, lowering the price of overseas fruit at local markets.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China has approved allowing Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport to import fruit beginning in February. Cuntan Port, a port along Yangtze River, will be put into service in June.

The Chongqing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said on Wednesday that about 400 million kg of fruit is brought into Chongqing every year. Annual sales of the imports are $300 million to $400 million, a quarter of the city's total fruit sales.

However, because Chongqing does not have a State-approved port for imported fruit, the local market needs to get it from other places, including Guangdong and Yunnan provinces as well as Shanghai. The fruit is brought into those ports and then transferred to Chongqing by road or air, increasing the cost and lowering the quality.

Liu Mingyi, head of Chongqing Fruit Industry Association, said at a news conference on Wednesday that the price of imported fruits in the city will be reduced and the amount will increase.

Huang Zhigang, deputy chief of the association, said the imported fruit that is sold in Chongqing will be fresher after the port opens.

China imports more than 20 kinds of fruit from 31 countries and regions. The largest sources are the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, followed by Russia and the United States.