Choice Fruit Alliance Makes Its Debut at the China (Beijing) International Fruit and Vegetable Expo

From 3 to 5 November the 2017 China (Beijing) International Fruit and Vegetable Expo was held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, bringing the leaders of the fruit and vegetable industry together to discuss the sector's development. With strong support from the Hebei Department of Commerce and the Hebei Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, the newly founded Hebei Choice Fruit Alliance Business Management Co., Ltd. made its first appearance at the expo.

Hebei has a long history of pear growing, going back more than 2,000 years. The Botou Ya pear, known both in China and abroad, entered international markets in the Jiaqing period of the Qing dynasty and has sold steadily ever since. Since the founding of the People's Republic, Hebei has consistently held first place nationally in four respects: pear growing area, output, external sales volume and the scientific level of pear tree research. Hebei fresh pears are now exported to 69 countries and regions worldwide, earning more than USD 100 million in foreign exchange a year.

During the 2016 Two Sessions, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated that advancing supply-side structural reform in agriculture and raising the overall efficiency and competitiveness of agriculture is the main direction for reform and improvement of China's agricultural policy at present and in the period ahead. That year the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued guidance on quality improvement action, calling for a dedicated programme to build export agricultural product brands, to raise the quality of exported agricultural products and thereby raise the quality of those sold domestically. For many years Hebei's fresh pear exporters have held to quality first as their guiding value and have been exploring a development path of quality at a premium.

Since the previous year, at the initiative of the Hebei Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau and following a development direction of internationalisation, specialisation, branding, standardisation, market orientation and industrialisation, nine outstanding Hebei enterprises exporting to high-end markets such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand reached agreement after discussion, founded the Hebei Quality Fresh Pear Export Enterprise Association and took equity stakes to establish Hebei Choice Fruit Alliance Business Management Co., Ltd.

Drawing on advanced marketing models from the international fruit industry, the Alliance follows the principle of a unified standards system, unified conformity assessment procedures, unified brand management and unified marketing, and works closely around the development concepts of innovation, coordination, green growth, openness and sharing. It has opened up a new cooperation model of an alliance of real enterprises. It overcomes the shortcomings of traditional associations and enterprise alliances by changing loose contractual cooperation into an economic chain that binds member units closely together, achieving strong-with-strong cooperation and mutual benefit. The Alliance also adopts a relatively open cooperation model and will keep taking in new enterprises to join the brand, increasing the industry's influence and cohesion and expanding the brand's international reach.

The China (Beijing) International Fruit and Vegetable Expo is co-organised by the China Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Association and Great Wall International Exhibition Co., Ltd. and has been held for nine consecutive years, becoming the most authoritative, international and professional event for the fruit and vegetable sector in mainland China. This edition drew around 300 exhibitors from 14 countries and regions including Australia, Peru, France, the Philippines, the United States, South Africa, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, Singapore and New Zealand, with more than 500 new varieties and over 1,200 brands presented side by side across the whole fruit and vegetable value chain.

During the expo, former Vice Chairwoman of the National People's Congress He Luli, State Council Counsellor and former Deputy Director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Ge Zhirong, AQSIQ Chief Inspector Zhang Jiwen, Director-General Li Jianwei, Director-General Zhang Baofeng, Deputy Director Bai Lu and Division Chief Lou Junwen, together with President Wang Xin and Secretary-General Wang Junbing of the China Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Association, toured the Hebei Choice Fruit Alliance stand accompanied by Feng Xueping, Deputy Director of the Hebei Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau. Vice Chairwoman He Luli listened attentively to the briefing by Guo Qiang, Deputy Division Chief of the Hebei Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau: the Alliance is a new cooperation model whose purpose is to raise quality and build the brand, and to address self-regulation in the industry through that model. She was very pleased by what she heard and urged the Alliance to secure as many orders as possible so that growers would not be left holding unsold fruit.

At this expo the Alliance and its member units used the international platform of the Beijing show to present more than ten quality Hebei fresh pear products, giving visitors from across China and around the world a full view of the high quality of Hebei fresh pears and once again raising the influence and competitiveness of Hebei fresh pears in international markets, winning the favour of consumers at home and abroad. With development goals of valuing quality, improving the brand and creating better prices, the Alliance will lead the Hebei fresh pear industry onto a sound development path of quality, premium and export.