After 17 years of negotiations, Korean sweet persimmons set to enter China for the first time

After 17 years of negotiations, Korean sweet persimmons are set to be exported to China for the first time.

According to reports from Yonhap News Agency and South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper, South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) said on Friday (November 6) that a loading ceremony for the first shipment of Korean sweet persimmons bound for China was held that day in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.

Changwon is the largest production area, accounting for 99% of South Korea's sweet persimmon exports.

The shipment totals about 19.6 tons, or 1,960 boxes.

The persimmons, selected and packed by the Dong-eup Agricultural Cooperative and the Gyeongnam Sweet Persimmon Horticultural Agricultural Cooperative, will depart from Busan Port and are expected to arrive in Shanghai next Tuesday (November 10), after which they will be sold at stores including premium retail outlets.

South Korea and China launched quarantine negotiations in 2008 on Korean sweet persimmons entering China, and the talks lasted 17 years until a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation Regarding Phytosanitary Requirements for the Export of Korean Fresh Persimmons to China was signed on the occasion of the South Korea-China summit in November last year, confirming that Korean sweet persimmons are approved for export to China.

South Korea's sweet persimmon exports reached 3,217 tons last year, with about 80% concentrated in five markets including the Philippines, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

South Korea's MAFRA said: "With the opening of the Chinese market, the world's largest producer and consumer of persimmons, sales channels for Korean sweet persimmons will become more diversified and stable large-scale exports will be secured." MAFRA and aT plan to hold promotional and consumer experience events in major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen to help Korean sweet persimmons gain a foothold in the Chinese market.

In particular, to coincide with the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen, China, South Korea will hold a Korean food experience event and buyer meetings there from November 21 to 24.