The central Chinese province of Hunan has been helping send fresh flowers from Kenya to customers all over China and even to Uzbekistan as the country keeps rolling out favorable trade policies for African countries and steadily increasing import from the continent.
Hunan, as one of China's most active provinces in Sino-African trade, is capable of importing flowers from Nairobi within just about 17 hours.
The flowers in the store of Huang Zinan, a Chinese Kenyan flower dealer, maintained original fresh appearance even after traveling as far as 7,000 kilometers.
"Since last year we have been selling about 100,000 flowers monthly, mostly to 15 first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen," she said.
China completed its first entrepot trade for African flowers in July after 400 fresh roses from Kenya were sent to Uzbekistan from a comprehensive bonded area in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province.
"We can sell them to a third country or countries along the Belt and Road. By increasing trade, we can help create jobs for local farmers and the production of flowers will definitely grow as well," said Huang.
By late June, China has applied zero-tariff to 98 percent of taxable goods from 27 least developed countries in Africa. It also established "green lanes" for African agricultural exports to China and signed 22 protocols regarding the export of agricultural products to China with 14 African countries.
Currently, high-quality characteristic African products like aquatic products, honey, peanuts, soybeans, coffee, and fruit have been imported into Chinese market in a steady flow.
Hunan facilitates Kenyan flowers trade within China, internationally
U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media on Monday that the U.S. forces will launch harsh retaliation against Iran following recent military casualties.
U.S. officials disclosed that nearly 100 U.S. service members have been injured in Iranian strikes this month across the Middle East.
In his post, Trump said "Every time lran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over! This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine and every Leader in the Military."
The U.S. Central Command confirmed on Saturday that two American personnel were killed on Friday in Jordan during an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack, with one additional service member reported missing. The following day, the U.S. military announced that another American was killed on Saturday in northern Iraq while attempting to defuse a downed Iranian drone.
However, the Trump administration has not entirely ruled out a diplomatic solution. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a media interview on Sunday evening that the administration "remains open to a diplomatic solution."
An U.S. official said on Monday that multiple Iranian airstrikes targeting U.S. military bases in the Middle East this month have injured nearly 100 U.S. military personnel.
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed that since July 7, nearly 100 U.S. military personnel have been diagnosed with varying degrees of injuries, with 96 percent already returning to duty.
Parnell noted that the vast majority of injuries were minor concussions, and the affected personnel "are actively returning to combat positions."
Trump vows harsh retaliation against Iran following recent US military casualties
