STORY: Aroma of African coffee wafts in China's Changsha
DATELINE: June 29, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:43
LOCATION: CHANGSHA, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Gaoqiao Grand Market
2. various of African farmers processing coffee beans
3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese): JING JIANHUA, Cafe owner at Gaoqiao Grand Market

STORYLINE:

At Gaoqiao Grand Market in Changsha City, central China's Hunan Province, about 40 percent of the 2,000 tonnes of coffee beans sold in 2022 were imported from Africa.

The market opened an African coffee trade center in 2020 to promote the import of African beans. Through the center, Chinese buyers can bypass intermediate dealers to sign deals directly with African farmers, thus reducing costs by 30 percent.

The center also serves as an exhibition and distribution center, and as an incubator for new brands of African coffee.

In addition to China's expanding market, the country's continuous efforts to simplify import procedures for African agricultural products have paved the way for African coffee to enter Chinese cafes and homes.

Among 21 pilot free trade zones in China, the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone has the task of building a "demonstrative highland" of cooperation between China and Africa.

SOUNDBITE (Chinese): JING JIANHUA, Cafe owner at Gaoqiao Grand Market
"With the further development of China-Africa economy and trade, we have more opportunities to better understand and integrate the coffee resources in Africa. In the past, when we purchased coffee beans, we had to rely on an intermediate dealer. The price was relatively high, and the coffee beans was not fresh enough. Now, by purchasing coffee beans directly from African suppliers, we can reduce our purchasing cost of coffee beans by 15% to 20%. With the support of the pilot free trade zone, we set up a coffee roasting factory, which could reduce our overall cost by nearly 30 percent."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Changsha, China.
(XHTV)