The Mexican government has announced plans to build a new storage and distribution facility in Zhengzhou in the Chinese province of Henan to boost the competitiveness of Mexican agricultural exports to the region.
Enrique Martínez y Martínez, minister at the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), told Fruitnet that the move would give Mexican fruits and vegetables better access to the market and enable exporters to make further inroads into central China.
Earlier this year, the minister signed a memorandum of understanding with Henan’s vice-governor, Zhao Jiancai, to operate a new airfreight service between Henan and Guadalajara, dubbed the Henan-Guadalajara Sky Bridge.
“This project provides an important stimulus to trade between Mexico and China, as can be seen by the recent opening of the Chinese market to Mexican berries and other products such as pork meat and tequila,” Martínez y Martínez said.
Guadalajara is one of several agro-logistic projects currently under development in Mexico. “Thanks to our geographical location and excellent transport routes and infrastructure we are an ideal bridge between Latin America and North America and in future we hope to extend this to Asia. Our aim is to make all of Mexico – not just Guadalajara – a true hub serving global markets,” the minster told Fruitnet.
Located in central China, Henan has 106m inhabitants and serves as a hub for a further 700m people in 91 Chinese cities, giving Mexican producers unprecedented access to the region. Its airport handles some 400,000 tonnes of perishables a year and this is forecast to rise to 1m tonnes by 2020.
