For the past 10 years, Shanghai Longwu Wholesale Market has dominated East China’s fruit import trade, but a new rival market is set to open this weekend to accommodate the region’s rapidly growing business.
Shanghai Huizhan Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market is set to officially open its doors at 6:28am on Sunday 18 August –eight being an auspicious number associated with making money in China.
Located on the main north-south highway in Shanghai, 15km from Longwu, Huizhan has been set up with majority investment from the owners of Jiangnan wholesale market, China’s largest wholesale market for imported fruit and vegetables based in Guangzhou.
Longwu market has enjoyed rapid expansion over the past 10 years as direct fruit imports to China have taken off, with the owners reporting an annual growth in trade volumes of between 30 and 40 per cent since 2005.
But the insufficient space at the market to accommodate future growth has created a bottleneck, according to local sources.
“After a decade of development, Longwu market has become too crowded – there’s a lack of office and cold storage space, and this is restraining further development, while the direct import volumes to China just keep on growing,” one Shanghai-based service provider for imported fruits told Asiafruit.
Identifying the opportunity to service this growth, the owners of Jiangnan have built Huizhan with modern warehousing and storage facilities.
Wholesalers at Longwu were initially reluctant to set up shop at Huizhan, according to local trade sources. But in the past week, Longwu’s experienced senior management team has left to join Huizhan, and a number of wholesalers have followed them. The management shift sparked a surge in rentals of office and cold storage space at Huizhan.
With Huizhan’s apparent strong management and wholesale support, local sources are predicting a smooth transition for the import trade.
Wholesalers are expected to operate from both markets for the foreseeable future, and the location of a customs and quarantine service at Longwu means it remains a key trade hub.
Huizhan is now reportedly seeking approval to become a quarantine inspection site so as to provide an efficient clearance service like Longwu.
