Chinese govt allows import of cherry from Gilgit Baltistan

The Chinese Government has allowed import of cherry from gilgit baltistan and other cities of pakistan. In a letter, written by the Chinese embassy in Islamabad, the Chinese government requested the government of Pakistan to take necessary steps and deploy the resources for timely import of fresh cherries. The Embassy requested the Ministry of food security of Pakistan to make arrangements for the virtual inspection of cherry orchards and cold treatment facilities.

Cherry is a seasonal fruit with limited lifetime grown throughout lowlands of Gilgit Baltistan. Some of its varieties are Black, red and french cherry. its a major source of cash for hundreds of families in GB. It has gotten the attention of traders recently in gilgit baltistan and has been started as business by supplying to the rest of the country in pakistan as the rate of cherry in big cities is higher than gilgit baltistan but is lower than chinese market.

Jilbaz Ali Khan, a trader of Cherry, says that with the approval of exporting cherry to China, it will be easy to introduce it world wide as China has operationalized an international airport in Tashgughan, a neighboring city to the border.

It is worthy to note here that the China Pakistan border has been opened for trade this April after a break of three years, after covid19. According to agreement the border will be opened at the start of April and will close in November, where due to snowfall its difficult to maintain activities. the border was closed in november 2019 and remained closed till this april. Talking to daily times, Jilbaz said that different traders were buying whole orchards of cherries in GB and were selling them in down country markets, as a result the rates remained same for many years. The opening of the China border for cherry will help traders to sell cherries at better rates.