Afghan, Pakistan pine nuts and dried apricot got wholesale orders at the China International Import Expo (CIIE), it was reported by Gwadar Pro on Monday. On the 5th of November, CIIE kicked off in Shanghai. In the food and agricultural products, a special booth in the corner attracted a lot of visitors. “This is the first time that we've participated in the CIIE, and we have already got some wholesale orders on the first day,” said Yousof Sadat, an Afghan exhibitor on CIIE who can speak fluent Chinese. “This year, we brought dried apricot, saffron crocus, pine nut, etc. The most popular products are dried apricot and pine nut. I believe there will be more customers and orders in the next few days.”

 “I think that Afghan products are still not well-known in China, while the CIIE provides us a platform to show our products. Chinese market is gradually knowing and recognizing us. At present, we still have three or four containerized products on the way here.” he added. “China and Afghanistan have a very good partnership, we will do more business between the two countries.”Nida Mohammad Popal, boss of Yousof and the owner of the dry fruit business, also expressed his appreciation to China’s openness.  "China is a very good market for Afghan products and transportation takes no time. 

In addition, because our government changed, a lot of countries don’t give visas to us. China is still open to us. I also do a lot of import from China to Afghanistan, like fertilizer.”  In July, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Afghan interim government.  Wang stressed that China is ready to push for dovetailing the Belt and Road Initiative with Afghanistan's national development strategies, support the extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan and share China's development opportunities. Pakistan also has a large production of high-quality apricot and pine nut. It is potential that in the future, we will also see Pakistani dry fruit on CIIE. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP