China has taken a major initiative to promote Sri Lankan exports to the Chinese market by offering tariff concessions for 1858 product items under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), government officials said. Among these items are tea, gems and jewellery, coconut based products, fruits, spices, farm products, medicines, chemicals, textiles, metal products to electro-mechanical products [...]

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The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

China opens window of opportunity for Sri Lanka exporters

By Bandula Sirimanna
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China has taken a major initiative to promote Sri Lankan exports to the Chinese market by offering tariff concessions for 1858 product items under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), government officials said. Among these items are tea, gems and jewellery, coconut based products, fruits, spices, farm products, medicines, chemicals, textiles, metal products to electro-mechanical products and auto parts. This was the highest tariff concession given to these products by China to a member country of APTA, a top official of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce told Business Times.

The corridor is also open for many Sri Lankan potential products such as coir-fibre, black tea, garments, fruit juices, coconut oil, essential oils, spices, fruits, fish, and other top Sri Lanka exports items.

Sri Lanka’s exports to China are still around just one per cent of the island’s total trade. If the country’s latest trade promotion initiative in the Chinese market becomes successful, Sri Lanka will be able to effectively draw on China’s promising Fast moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) segment, he said.

China is now becoming not only a big seller but also a huge buyer as the living standards of the people keep improving, he added. According to latest estimates of the Department of Commerce, in 2007-2011, Lanka’s exports to China under APTA grew by 719%, with China becoming the most promising destination when it comes to Sri Lanka-APTA trade.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce of China (SAIC) has stepped in to assist Sri Lanka to explore FMCG segment in the hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores which are still the most important trade in China, taking 40 per cent of the value share in China’s FMCG market, he revealed. Giving this assurance during her recent visit to Sri Lanka, Ms Gan Lin, a Vice Minister of the SAIC, said “We like your products which are of high quality and we are looking for more and more tea and rubber from Sri Lanka” She invited Sri Lankan businessmen to visit China more often and explore Chinese consumer needs closely so that they can get a better idea as to what they can move and what they cannot in the Chinese marketplace SAIC has more than 51 million business enterprises and individual businesses as well as 436,800 foreign firms registered under it and operating within China. Sri Lanka is to seek assistance from the SAIC to market Pure Ceylon Cinnamon in China in the same way as Pure Ceylon Tea and to get the Pure Ceylon Cinnamon trade mark recognised in China, the Ministry official said.




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