Vegetable traders to boost exports to Russia, Central Asia

China is planning to boost exports of vegetables to Russia and Central Asian nations to offset declining demand and rising anti-dumping duties from traditional importers like the United States, Brazil, Japan and South Korea, officials said.

Chai Liping, secretary-general of the Beijing-based China Vegetable Association, said traditional markets have used tariff barriers, extremely harsh quality tests and withdrawn shipments without any adequate explanations. To counter this, Shouguang, a major vegetable-growing city in East China's Shandong province, has decided to establish the Shouguang-Russia Border Trade Association to diversify export channels in global markets.

Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, which borders Russia, will also establish 20 vegetable-growing bases to grow carrot, onion, tomato, sugarbeet, salad potato and colored sweet pepper in select counties and towns to develop border trade.