A Zhuhai sub-center to safeguard the export of high-quality agricultural products to Hong Kong and Macao, and distribution in the Greater Bay Area was established Sept 16 off Route G105 in the Shangchong community of Qianshan.

The 18,728-sq-m (5-acre) facility at Zhuhai Agricultural Produce Logistics & Safety Testing Center will become a comprehensive site for wholesale, storage, processing, distribution, traceability, and quality safety testing of price-controlled produce. These include meat, eggs, milk, fish products, and vegetables. 

Greater Bay Area Vegetable Basket products depart Zhuhai for Macao [Photo by Wu Changfu / Guanhai App]

It is part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area "Vegetable Basket Products" circulation system that was initiated in May 2019 with the support of other Greater Bay cities. The system calls for 14 distribution centers (sub-centers) in Guangdong Province to inspect and test food, agricultural products, and food contact materials, and issue inspection reports that can be used directly at home and abroad to realize export without hindrance.

Production bases and processing enterprises meeting Hong Kong and Macao standards will enter the center next month. Their products will be shipped directly to Greater Bay and other regions after on-site processing and testing. Each product will bear a traceability code for quality assurance, according to Xiao Jun, deputy general manager of Zhuhai Agricultural Investment Holdings Group.

Relying on location advantages, the Zhuhai site will reach out to the Vegetable Basket production bases in Yangjiang and Maoming in Guangdong, Nujiang in Yunnan, and Ganzi in Tibet Autonomous Region, while tapping into markets centered on Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. 

The Vegetable Basket Project is a national program instituted in 1989 to improve the production and marketing of vegetables and other foods and utilize national resources at a reasonable rate. The program makes city mayors responsible for the provisioning, affordability, and safety of non-grain foods, particularly fresh produce, and meat.