Meeting explores Jordanian olive sector’s potential to make inroads in Chinese market

AMMAN — The Chinese embassy in Amman on Thursday organised a virtual meeting to discuss ways to boost olive oil exports with the participation of Chinese and Jordanian stakeholders.

The meeting also discussed means to enhance trade with China, as well as to develop a platform to boost cooperation between Jordanian and Chinese companies.

Chinese Ambassador to the Kingdom Chen Chuandong, during the meeting, said that Jordanian-Chinese economic ties have been developing “steadily” in recent years, highlighting “the fruitful results” of the two sides’ cooperation.  

China is Jordan's third largest trading partner and the second largest importer, with trade between the two countries totalling $4.112 billion in 2019, marking a record annual growth of 29.17 per cent, the diplomat said, adding that China's imports from Jordan increased to $408 million, showing an annual increase of 2.62 per cent. 

The envoy said that olive oil is one of the Kingdom’s most important agricultural products, highlighting the Jordanian olive oil’s reputation in global markets, according to a statement made available to The Jordan Times.

Highlighting China’s strong demand for olive oil, the diplomat emphasised the broad prospects for cooperation between the two countries.

Chuandong added that the Chinese market is “the most promising” market in the world, and in recent years China has expanded its import activities, established platforms such as the China International Import Expo, besides improving import facilities.

The ambassador stressed that the Chinese market’s potentials would inject a high momentum into the stable growth of the global economy, according to the statement.

Vice president of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products (CFNA) Rong Weidong expressed the chamber’s hopes towards bolstering cooperation between the two countries in the olive oil industry and building bridges of communication between China and Jordan in this arena.

Highlighting new cooperation opportunities, the Chinese official said that Jordan is one of the top 10 olive oil producers, while China is one of the largest importers of this product, calling for linking the two countries’ companies and related bodies to advance cooperation in this area.  

CFNA is China's largest international trade organisation for food and agricultural products, that deals with more than 6,800 companies in China, he added, noting that the chamber will help many countries implement conciliatory activities in the field of olive oil.

On January 15, the chamber held a meeting on Tunisian olive oil, which witnessed the participation of more than 60 companies from both sides, he added.

Alberto Mendes, World Food Programme (WFP) representative in Jordan, said that the programme’s support for Jordan’s olive oil came as a result of the “outstanding partnership” between the two sides to support national priorities in the development process, notably in the agriculture sector.

Fayyad Al Zyoud, president of the Jordan Olive Products Exporters Association (JOPEA) highlighted the role of the Jordanian olive sector, one of the Kingdom’s most important production sectors, in sustainable development, combating poverty and unemployment.

On the sidelines of the meeting, a networking was organised for Jordanian companies involved in the production, sale and export of olive oil and accredited Chinese companies and entities.

The Kingdom produces 180,000 tonnes of olive fruit a year, with some 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes allocated for oil production and some 40,000 tonnes for pickling.

The number of olive trees in the Kingdom stands at around 10.5 million planted over an area of 560,000 dunums, which constitutes 72 per cent of the agricultural land in Jordan, according to recent figures by the Department of Statistics (DoS) cited by the statement.