Zimbabwe can now export fresh citrus to China

HARARE, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Fresh citrus from Zimbabwe can now be exported to China, the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe has tweeted.

"On June 1st 2023, the General Administration of Customs of China released the list of registered Zimbabwean orchards and packhouses for citrus exporting to China," read part of the tweet Saturday.

A total of 11 citrus orchards and six citrus packhouses in Zimbabwe were listed among those that will be involved in citrus exports to China.

Zimbabwe, which has a total of 4,000 hectares of land under citrus, has a favorable climate for the production of citrus.

Zimbabwe and China in 2022 signed a citrus protocol to give Zimbabwean companies access to export citrus to China, one of Zimbabwe's top export destinations.

China ranked as the third largest importer of Zimbabwean goods last year, according to the country's trade promotion agency ZimTrade.

Overall trade between the two countries surged 29.2 percent year on year to a record high of 2.43 billion U.S. dollars in 2022.