NINGBO, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- The first cargo flight carrying more than 100 tonnes of cherries arrived in the city of Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Wednesday, after over 30 hours of travel from Chile.
After the cherries were picked, they were immediately sent to a processing plant to be washed, sorted and packed. Then the fruit was transported by refrigerated trucks to a Chilean airport and then took off for China, according to the Ningbo Lishe International Airport.
The fruit took less than 72 hours from being picked to travel from Chile to Ningbo, a city more than 19,000 km away, it said.
To ensure the freshness and safety of cherries, the airport customs has a channel for the rapid inspection of fresh products.
It only took two hours from entering China to the completion of customs clearance and quarantine procedures, the airport said.
China imported 3.96 million tonnes of fruits in the first half of 2019, an annual growth of 38 percent, with cherries, durians and grapes topping the list of the most imported fruits, according to the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products.
