Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, has witnessed a rapid surge in its coffee exports to China in recent years, hitting a record high in 2023.
In the first half of 2024, over 510,000 bags (each weighing 60 kg) of Brazilian coffee were delivered to Chinese consumers.
In a coffee farm named "Santa Izabel Fazenda" in Minas Gerais state in southeastern Brazil, around 42,000 coffee trees are bearing coffee cherries of 40 different varieties. Just a few years ago, coffee beans grown in this farm started making their way to a new large market -- China.
Marquinho Florezi, the farm's manager, explained the fermentation and drying processes of fresh coffee cherries. "It's a good harvest, and we expect high-quality coffee since there was no rain during maturation. After harvesting, we wash the coffee beans and sort them by color, selecting ripe, green, and drier ones. Then, we place the beans in barrels for fermentation, which lasts 100 hours. This is the first batch to complete fermentation. After this, the coffee will be dried for another seven to ten days," said Florezi.
The processed coffee is usually sent to a nearby export company. The company began exporting coffee to China in 2017 with just 600 bags (each 60 kg) a year. In recent years, exports have increased significantly because of the rising demand and recognition of Brazilian coffee quality in the Chinese market.
"The coffee export volume to China has grown greatly. Last year, we exported about 10,000 bags of coffee (each 60 kg) to China," said Victor Vuolo, the company's manager.
In 2017, Brazil exported fewer than 100,000 bags of coffee to China, but by 2023, that number had risen to nearly 1.5 million sacks, according to data from the Council of Coffee Exporters of Brazil.
"China, which was ranked the 22nd on the list of Brazil's coffee exports until 2022, has now moved up to the sixth place, showing significant growth. Coffee has become a cultural symbol for the Chinese, and Brazil hopes to be the leading partner in supporting the expansion of the coffee culture in China," said Marcos Antonio Matos, general director of the council.
Brazil's coffee exports to China reach new high
Brazil's coffee exports to China reach new high
Brazil's coffee exports to China reach new high
The high-quality development of east China's Shandong Province featuring innovation and green development has been providing opportunities to foreigners ranging from business promoters to even internet influencers.
As leader in the country's foreign trade, the coastal province of Shandong has been making consistent efforts to push forward its high-level opening-up.
In the first half of this year, Shandong imported and exported 1.62 trillion yuan (230 billion U.S. dollars) worth of goods, marking a 4.3-percent year-over-year increase, according to the customs data released in mid-July.
The province's export to regions like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), South Korea, and Brazil continued growing during the period.
Ryan Norman, an American living in Rizhao City, has been witnessing all the changes for years as Shandong's close economic ties with the world have boosted its development.
By sharing short videos of him wondering in local markets and making dishes in a big wok, Ryan has attracted over one million followers on social media.
"I am Ryan Norman, an American from California. Now I am married with a Rizhao woman. I have been in China for 19 years. I did some business before, but in recent years I've been making short videos. If the weather is good, staying on beach makes me happier. There is a 28-kilometer sunshine seaside track and every summer, we run back and forth along the track," he said.
The high-quality development of Shandong comes together with green development. In 2023, the province generated over 158 billion kilowatt-hours of green power from new energy and renewables, increasing by 21.9 percent year on year and representing 24.4 percent of the total power generated, up 3.6 percent from 2022.
Last year, the province issued a three-year action plan on promoting green and low-carbon high-quality development, as the province is set to pursue a deep integration of culture and tourism.
"As the environment is getting better and better, more locals like to visit our tea tourism cultural park and its good reputation has attracted droves of tourists," said Yan Zaoning, director of a local tea park.
Sebastian Valcic from Germany now works in an innovation zone in Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong. He said in recent years, he witnessed over 500 enterprises from countries like Germany, France, Finland, and Japan setting branches in the innovation zone, and these changes boosted his confidence in China's high-quality development.
"Thanks to the institutional and mechanism reform of the Jinan Innovation Zone, I, as a German, can have the opportunity to join the investment promotion department of the Jinan Innovation Zone management committee. I am responsible for attracting global investment. Over the recent years, our team has signed over 100 projects. The Jinan Innovation Zone is a national new- and high-tech development zone, a free trade zone, a comprehensive bonded zone, a pilot zone for upgrading development engine, and a sci-tech innovation financial reform pilot zone. The innovation zone has so many institutional innovations and preferential policies for expanding opening-up. Every time we have an investment promotion event, I always want the investors to know how special here is," said Sebastian Valcic, an external liaison officer of the management committee's investment promotion department.
Apart from attracting investment, Sebastian Valcic said his team will also work to connect enterprises so that they can cooperate with potential partners up and down the industrial chain.
"We will introduce companies up and down the industrial chain to the enterprises so that they can connect, communicate, and cooperate with one another," he said.
According to its three-year action plan, Shandong will continue to enhance the quality and level of its trade and investment by enhancing the efficiency of using foreign investment and deepening international economic and trade cooperation.
Shandong high-quality development provides opportunities to international firms, individuals
