Chinese Embassy Deputy Head of Mission lauds Davao’s agri products

The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China through their Deputy Chief of Mission, Mr. Zhou Zhiyong, met with Mayor Sebastian Duterte on Tuesday afternoon to discuss further bilateral relationships and possible trade partnerships.

Included in the itinerary of the Chinese delegation was a visit to a durian farm in the city, with prospects to sign more agreements to export the king of fruits to many parts of China. “You have high-quality durian and fresh durian is being exported to China with one percent of our total population consuming this fruit,” Mr. Zhiyong told the Mayor during the courtesy call. China has a 1.4 billion population and an estimated 14 million are already tagged as durian consumers.

Mr. Zhiyong confirmed this is his first posting in the Philippines and Davao. He was accompanied by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China’s 2nd Secretary Kan Shilai and Attache Wu Xiaoyi.

The city’s high-quality young coconuts and tuna were also shipped for the first time in China. Other agricultural products such as mangosteen are also eyed to be exported in the coming years such as mangosteen.

China is currently working with the local government to push for the early landing of cooperation agreements on major infrastructure projects and the continued export of Davao’s fruits and agricultural products.

The Mayor lauded China’s plan to expand the export of our city’s major agri products, saying their team is specific and always follows through with existing (and future) agreements concerning trade and commerce.

Davao currently has sister cities in China— Nanning and Jinjiang. A delegation from Jinjiang visited Davao last February 28 to sign a framework trade agreement on economic partnership, deepening practical and economic cooperation between China and Davao in economy, trade, and business.