MULTAN, Aug 5: A delegation of Chinese experts said on Sunday their government wanted to increase trade with Pakistan and, provided that certain standards were met, China’s big consumer market could become a destination for Pakistan’s mango exports.

The experts, Chen Neiz Wge, a horticulturist, and Shi Zon Gwen, an entomologist, were speaking at a ceremony here arranged by Pakistan Mango and Citrus Fruit Growers and Exporters’ Association.

The delegation from the Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of the Republic of China had earlier visited several mango orchards and farms in Multan and Lodhran besides the Mango Research Station, Shujabad.

China, a country of around 1.5 billion people, presently imports mango from Thailand.

“We are visiting Pakistan because our government wants to improve trade relations with Pakistan. Our government wants the production of disease-free mango in Pakistan to improve further,” PMCFGEA chairman Ejaz Ahmad quoted Shi Zon Gwen as saying.

China, he said, was such a large market that it could consume a quantity of mangoes equal to Pakistan’s current mango exports.

“We plan to install a vapour heat treatment plant in Multan that will free our mango from effects of fruit fly,” Mr Ahmad told the Chinese delegation. He also said there had been almost no fruit fly attack this year on account of less rains in mango growing areas.

The Chinese delegation stressed biological control of pests and application of bio-fertilizers instead of chemical ones. The visiting experts were happy to note that these were already being applied in most of the farms they visited in Multan and the surrounding areas.

Dr Muhammad Aslam, chairman of the horticulture department at the Agriculture University, Faisalabad, said Pakistan was producing disease-free mango. He said the level of awareness among exporters as well as growers was high enough to address any reservations of the importers.

The Chinese delegation also visited the Cotton Research Station.

The ceremony was attended by horticulturist Zafaryab, entomologist Malik Nazar, Export Promotion Bureau deputy director Zafar Umer, and growers and exporters including Malik Abid, Malik Sajjad, Malik Ilyas, Arif Rajwana, Saeed Kalroo and Malik Abdul Qadir besides All Pakistan Bed Sheets and Uphoalstry Manufacturers’ Association chairman Syed Asim Shah. — APP