by Meng Lingjuan

Are white cherries produced in Pakistan’s Balochistan, where Gwadar Port is located? Are they tastier and cheaper than those in Chile? Are they facing export difficulties to China? Do Chinese people only know Pakistan produces mango? These are views shared by our Chinese and Pakistani guests, in a recent interview with Economic Daily-China Economic Net for the special program Cherries and FTA.

Against the background of Pakistan reopening its airspace and China holding annual Two Sessions, six Chinese and Pakistani guests, including Zhao Jinping, former Director-General of the Research Department of Foreign Economic Relations, Development Research Center of the State Council, and Akram Habib, Chief Editor of Dunya TV, turned the interview into a witty discussion. Nearly the same time a year ago, Pakistan's ambassador to China, His Excellency Mr. Masood Khalid mentioned Pakistan’s cherry during his exclusive interview with Economic Daily-China Economic Net.

Pakistan has the world’s best cherry

Akram Habib and Zhao Jinping receive an interview at the studio of Economic Daily-China Economic Net for the special program Cherries and FTA on March 6, 2019. (Photo by Zhang Peng/ Economic Daily-China Economic Net)

“As a Pakistani, I can honestly say that we have one of the world’s best cherries, very juicy,” Habib said. “The size of Pakistan’s cherry is very big”, Hina Firdous, an official at the Embassy of Pakistan in China, when she was outside the studio, using her hand to draw a three-centimeter-diameter circle.

“What Chinese people know is that Pakistan’s mango is famous, but they have no idea that Pakistan has such great cherry," Zhuo Rong, Senior Researcher at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China, who has worked over ten years there, presented pictures of five cherry-producing areas.

Balochistan borders Afghanistan and Iran, and on the southwestern coast of the province is Gwadar Port which China helps to build the free trade area. Although cherry tree is quite hard to survive, Balochistan is suited for planting cherry. “Cherry prices are very high in the Chinese market. If Chinese government decides to import cherry from a certain country, it will encourage the local farmer to increase planting. As the quantity of cherry available in the market grows, the import price could fall,” Naveed Hussain, Editor of The Express Tribune, Head of News of Tribune 24/7, said in the interview.

Pakistani cherry has no seasonal advantages

Output of Fresh Cherry by Major Producing Countries, a report from United States Department of Agriculture does not include Pakistan. Chile is expected to break the record of 190, 000 ton in the season of 2018/2019 due to increasing demand from China. Argentina, which is also not on the list of “major producing countries”, has reached quarantine agreement with China's General Administration of Customs at the end of last year, and the first batch of cherry exported to China set off in January. Then, why the cherries from the three countries mentioned above have different fates?

Chart quoted from United States Department of Agriculture

Hussain said that, though Pakistan is competitive in cherry’s taste, the main reason China imports cherries from New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina, is the contrary season caused by its geological locations - Southern and Northern hemisphere, and Pakistan has almost the same harvest season as China.

“We imported cherry from eight countries, including Chile, U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Tajikistan, and Turkey. Since no significant difference exists between the two countries, it can be difficult for Pakistani cherry to be exported to China.” Zhou Rong added.

White cherry of Balochistan not available in Karachi

“Pakistan's advertising is not as good as Chile's. We can find Chile’s advertisement in second-tier and third-tier cities in China, now that Pakistan is quite near to us, you have enough edge on developing advertising”, Zhou Rong continued, “I know nothing about Balochistan’s cherry over the past 10 years when I worked in Pakistan, therefore, the effort in information exchange is insufficient, and we should strengthen market research.”

Naveed Hussain, Editor of The Express Tribune, Head of News of Tribune 24/7 receives an interview at the studio of Economic Daily-China Economic Net for the special program Cherries and FTA on March 6, 2019. (Photo by Zhang Peng/ Economic Daily-China Economic Net)

“Just as Mr. Zhou said, even Pakistanis themselves lack knowledge about cherries, hence it has been marginalized. Pakistan has an annual cherry output of 4,000 ton, but we do not put much emphasis on the systematic collection of the information about high-end fruit,” Naveed said.

For this, Zhang Baozhong, chairman of China Overseas Ports Holding Company Pakistan, told us “I went to Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, at the harvest season. We were free to take cherries from a cherry orchard next to our hotel. Pakistan's cherry is indeed the best, with its main producing areas located in the north. Balochistan is also rich in agricultural products.”

Aman Ullah Khan, Managing Director of Global Care, stressed problems in cherry transportation, “Balochistan’s main product, white cherries, are rarely shipped to Karachi, the capital of Balochistan's neighboring province Sindh and the largest city in Pakistan, because of its poor infrastructure. We export a lot of mangoes, and we have the infrastructure to export mangoes, but as to peaches, apricots, and cherries which you've just introduced, planting and growing in different regions requires an increased investment in infrastructure, with packaging and other links included. "

Expedite Cherry’s ‘Zero tariff’ process

After discussing the seasonality, information exchange and transportation of Pakistani cherries, Zhao Jinping stressed that there is a very important factor, that is, the tariffs between China and Pakistan.

He said, the first phase of the China-Pakistan FTA was signed on November 24, 2006, and the two sides implemented tariff reduction on about 6,000 items. Some of them were reduced to zero tariffs after a five-year transition period and the liberalization rate, which means the coverage ratio of zero tariff goods in varieties and quantities, would be lifted to 85% over a period of about 10 years.

He thinks that the 85% coverage ratio is not high in the international market, “according to the current information disclosed by the two countries, if the it can be raised to more than 90 percent in the second stage of the free trade negotiations, many commodities similar to cherries will be covered, which will lead to a decrease in the cost and price of Pakistani goods exported to China, and an enhanced market share and competitiveness in China. As we talked about Chilean cherries, the ratio between China and Chile has reached 98%, and almost all goods can enter China without tariff, which has a positive effect on lowering the price of Chilean cherries. "

Statistics from China's General Administration of Customs suggests, the volume of total import and export between China and Pakistan is USD 19.08 billion in 2018, of which Pakistan's exports to China totaled USD 2.18 billion, accounting for slightly more than 10 percent. “The imbalance in bilateral trade can cause new problems, and the Chinese people may enjoy goods of better quality and lower prices, from this point, if we issue a suggestion to the government, whether we can speed up the zero-tariff process for Pakistan's competitive products, such as cherries, which are in demand in the domestic market,” Zhao Jinping said. “The second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be convened in late April. If we can accelerate the negotiation process and announce the completion of the second phase of the FTA negotiations at this time, I think, it is also encouraging. A more positive, open and inclusive attitude should be adopted when we face such great friend and great country like Pakistan, making their problems as our own.

Just a week before the program, Pakistan's ambassador to China, His Excellency Mr. Masood Khalid told us in an informal discussion organized by the Embassy that the tension between India and Pakistan would not have any impact on the economic exchanges between China and Pakistan. The Pakistani free trade talk delegation would arrive in Beijing as scheduled in early March. “I hope that we can eat Pakistani cherries in China one day, " he said.

The article is translated by Chen Jinglin.