Elita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter China has expressed interest in importing citrus from Zimbabwe, and a quarantine delegation is in the country to inspect citrus farms to see if they meet the phytosanitary requirements. 

During a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made, head of the Chinese entomology delegation and Guangdong Inspection Quarantine Technology Centre entomologist Dr Wu Jiajiao, said the team had visited many citrus farms across the country and were impressed by the quality of the fruits. 

"We are also interested in investigating the branding and packaging of the citrus fruits. China has a big market for citrus fruits. We are currently importing from foreign countries and Zimbabwe can also export to us if it meets our requirements." 

Dr Wu said China had different seasons from Zimbabwe and the latter could take advantage of that and supply the citrus fruits when they were in demand in China.