At 1am Nairobi time, Kenyan flower farmers began cutting flowers on their farms, and their daily life began at this moment. One hour later, the roses picked by the flower growers will be loaded at the side of Naivasha Lake and arrive at Nairobi Airport. At 3:00 p.m. Nairobi time, Rose took the flight of China Southern Airlines to Changsha, Hunan Province, 8700 kilometers away.

On the morning of the second day Beijing time, Changsha Huanghua Airport, thanks to the green channel opened by Changsha Customs for African products, the fastest clearance time is only half an hour.

Hunan Xiyue Cultural Media Co., Ltd. is the importer of this batch of flowers, and the company's head, Huang Zinan, is waiting at the Gaoqiao Market. It was only a day before the flowers were picked when they cleared customs. Next, these bright and bright Kenyan flowers will have enough time to enter thousands of households in China. Kenya is a world-renowned flower producer and one of the world's important flower exporting countries. Kenya's roses have large heads, a wide variety, and a long vase life, making them a frequent visitor to important global occasions. Thanks to measures such as increased direct flights between China and Africa and convenient customs clearance, the export of Kenyan flowers to China has continued to grow in recent years. Hunan Gaoqiao Market is one of the important distribution centers for flowers in Kenya.

Starting from the Gaoqiao Market, this batch of imported flowers will continue to travel to other cities in China such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Due to the long flowering period and stable supply of roses in Kenya, the price fluctuation of Qixi Festival and other flower peak periods in China can be alleviated to a certain extent.

The consumption habits of fresh flowers among Chinese people are gradually forming, with huge market potential. The demand and frequency of flowers for weddings and exhibitions are also gradually increasing, "said Huang Zinan.

Jointly building the the Belt and Road will bring new opportunities for China Africa cooperation. According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, in the first five months of 2023, the import and export trade volume between China and Africa reached 822.32 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.4%. The lively economic and trade exchanges between China and Africa have also injected new vitality into the Gaoqiao market. Gaoqiao Market is a large comprehensive market in China, with a total of 9100 merchants. In 2022, the trade volume with Africa reached 3.1 billion yuan, an increase of 302% compared to the previous year.

Here, consumers can buy many products from African countries, such as essential oils from Madagascar, oil paintings and gemstones from Zambia, coffee from Ethiopia, wood carvings from Zimbabwe, and wine from South Africa.

The green crabs from Madagascar, abalone from South Africa, and horsefish from Mozambique. After opening the box, this batch of seafood preserved with liquid nitrogen is lively and lively. This is the first time that the market has directly imported African fresh seafood, with a total of 3.5 tons of 18 categories of seafood from 4 African countries.

Su Junping, President of the Asia Europe Africa Trade and Investment Joint Promotion Association, introduced that China is actively establishing a green channel for African agricultural products to be exported to China, with more and more varieties being admitted. African fruits such as Egyptian oranges, avocado, and ginseng have gradually entered the Chinese market.

Su Junping's company supplies African agricultural products to multiple Chinese enterprises. "We process fruits locally in Africa into a series of products such as diced fruit, puree, pulp, dried fruit, as well as decorative fruits on cakes and mango puree in milk tea. We will have more and more African products in our daily lives

In recent years, more and more Chinese consumers have turned their attention to the high-quality African coffee. Zhu Zhi, the business manager of Changsha Jiuxiu Coffee Co., Ltd., found that the sales volume of an African coffee bean in the store doubled compared with last year.

Jiuxiu Coffee is located on the coffee street of Gaoqiao Market. In 2022, the coffee sales in Gaoqiao Market reached 1 billion yuan, with 2000 tons of coffee beans sold, of which African coffee beans accounted for 40% of the total sales.

The unique acidity and floral flavor of African coffee beans are increasingly recognized and accepted by the public, "said Xiao Yongqi, the head of Jiuxiu Coffee. The Yuhua District, where the Gaoqiao market is located, has opened up links such as direct African harvesting, domestic processing, brand incubation, and product sales, making the overall cost of coffee 30% lower than similar products on the market.

In Africa, exporting to China has also become a topic of discussion for more and more farmers and exporters. For African growers who have long relied on European and American markets, the emerging Chinese market may bring higher and more stable income. Editor/Xie Li