China imports wild anchovy products from Kenya

Customs officers of the Changsha Customs inspect dried wild anchovy in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, June 26, 2023. (Xinhua)

CHANGSHA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A total of 315 kg of dried wild anchovy from Kenya were transported to the Changsha Huanghua International Airport in central China's Hunan Province on Monday, marking that China imported wild anchovy products from the African country for the first time.

Huang Caixin, director of the import and export food safety department of the Changsha Customs, said Kenyan dried anchovy is a new African product that Changsha Customs has participated in promoting to import, which 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.

Kenya is rich in marine fishery resources, said Zhou Jinsong, who is in charge of an imported food company in Hunan. The company will further expand the supply of goods from Tanzania, Somalia, and other countries, not only to provide high-quality food raw materials to the domestic market but also to promote the development of the aquatic product processing industry in Africa and provide jobs for local residents.

According to customs statistics, African agricultural exports to China have grown rapidly in recent years, and China has now become the second-largest destination country for African agricultural exports. In the first five months of this year, China imported 16.15 billion yuan (about 2.24 billion U.S. dollars) of African agricultural and food products, up 26.5 percent year on year.