BEIJING – China on Monday announced importation of 52-tonne shipment of anchovy popularly known as omena from Kenya.
China Foreign Affairs Ministry Department of African Affairs Director-General Wu Peng made the announcement on Twitter, adding that more shipment was on the way.
Wu, who is a former ambassador to Kenya, said the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Green Channel for African Agricultural Exports to China is bringing tangible benefits to the two countries.
“Glad to see the first 52-tonne shipment of Kenyan omena exported to China has been delivered recently. More is on the way. The FOCAC #Green Channel for African agricultural exports to China is bringing tangible benefits to African and Chinese people,” Wu said in the tweet.
The dried anchovies were received in the city of Yueyang after a one-month journey across the ocean and on the Yangtze River, according to Changsha Customs, which conducted the quarantine and clearance of the fish.
FOCAC s an official forum between the People’s Republic of China and all states in Africa with the exception of the Kingdom of Eswatini.
The Green Channel was among the nine programmes President Xi Jinping announced at the Eighth Ministerial FOCAC Conference in Dakar, Senegal, from November 29 to 30, 2021.
At the conference, President Xi said China would work closely with African countries to various programmes, including trade promotion, under the first three-year plan of the China-Africa Cooperation Vision 2035.
Under this programme, President Xi committed to opening “green lanes” for African agricultural exports to China, speed up the inspection and quarantine procedures, and further increase the scope of products enjoying zero-tariff treatment for the least developed countries with diplomatic relations with China.
This arrangement sought to attain $300 billion in total imports from Africa in three years [2024].
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“China will provide $10 billion of trade finance to support African export, and build in China a pioneering zone for in-depth China-Africa trade and economic cooperation and a China-Africa industrial park for Belt and Road cooperation.
“China will undertake 10 connectivity projects for Africa, form an expert group on economic cooperation with the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and give continued support to the development of the AfCFTA,” China diplomatic officials in Lagos said at the time.
China started to import anchovies from Kenya in June with a 315kg batch taking a flight to reach Hunan.
According to Xinhua News, Jinzai Food Group, a Hunan-based snack company that purchased the anchovies, said the fish will be made into a popular Hunan-flavored snack at its factory.
The company has built a factory in Kenya for processing, drying and packaging anchovies before they set off for the Chinese market.
China Daily quoted Huang Caixin, director of the import and export food safety department of the Changsha Customs, saying Kenyan dried anchovy is a new African product that Changsha Customs has participated in promoting to import.
This, Huang said, is conducive to promoting the import of more high-quality African food and agricultural products, enriching the choices of domestic consumers, and boosting the trade between China and Africa.
