The Fujian Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said it plans to launch a provincial animal and plant quarantine center in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone (PCPZ).

The Haixi (West Coast) Entry-Exit Animal-Plant Quarantine Center, covering an area of 13.33 hectares, will be located near a port in Jinjing Bay and will have four functional zones - quarantine and treatment, animal quarantine, plant quarantine and research.

The center will be built by the Pingtan and the Fujian quarantine bureaus, and is set to be China's first comprehensive animal and plant quarantine treatment agency. The provincial bureau said they have not yet finalized various details, but the whole project is in a "propulsion phase."

The center is expected to give Pingtan import rights of designated plants, fruits and live animals – thus improving Pingtan's port competitiveness, and experts said it will also help Pingtan to cooperate with Taiwan on the prevention of invasive pests and to boost the construction of a logistics channel in Fujian.

Background

In recent years, an increasing number of Taiwan enterprises and local governments have requested the right to directly export their seedlings with soil to Fujian province in order to boost cross-Straits agricultural collaboration.

The Fujian quarantine bureau thus pushed for the establishment of an animal and plant quarantine center in Pingtan to meet the requirements.

The PCPZ's application to build the center was officially approved by the Fujian government in February and then received the support of the General Administration of Quality Supervision.

Reactions

The news of the construction of the animal and plant quarantine center in Pingtan has attracted much attention.

Li Quanjiao, president of the Taiwan-based Yunju Group, visited Pingtan recently to increase his understanding of the center's aims.

"We are excited and hope the center will help to establish a long-term and effective channel for trade of cross-Straits agricultural products," he said.

Wang Duanxiao, chairman of the Quanzhou-based Sunshine Horticulture Co Ltd, said that the move expands Pingtan's market potential in exports and imports of flowers and plants, and he also said the center would offer many opportunities for cross-Straits agriculture cooperation.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman