“Yichang citrus are juicy, sweet, palatable and tasty!”--- Those high praises were raised by foreign merchants on October 26th when they took part in Yichang International Citrus Purchaser Fair , strolled around the orangery and tasted citrus.

　　Through the vast orangery in Guanzhuang Village, Yiling District, foreign merchants walked and chatted with each other while strolling around. “The orangery is so beautiful and the citrus are delicious!” MelliniCukor Larisa, deputy director of Foreign Economic Development Committee of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry remarked after tasting the citrus. She said it was her first visit to China to participate in the fruits fair, and she felt it was wonderful. “Fruits are good for our health and Ukraine is in the development stage of citrus imports at present. I hope this fair can give us a good opportunity to further understand the varieties and quality of Yichang citrus.” She said that she would have a further interview with suppliers and can establish strategic cooperation with them as soon as possible.

　　Russia is the largest importer of Yichang citrus. Chernoff Aleksei, the executive manager of the Russia Association of Agricultural Consultants, who investigated Yichang for the first time, was extremely excited after the visit. “Citrus has a large market in Russia, and Yichang citrus products are extremely competitive for their high quality stemming from its excellent ecological environment” He said he would further get to know the advantages of Yichang citrus and their sale potentiality in Russian market, so as to quickly formulate the corresponding trade schemes. At the same time, he said that brand was an intangible asset of any enterprises, and he hoped that Yichang could do more in citrus branding and let more Russians know Yichang citrus via brand effect.

　　Tursunnaliyev Abdurakhmon, the general manager of Russian Agricultural Products Trading Company, was also interested in Yichang citrus. He said that the import of Yichang citrus was mainly through land transportation, which required several repackaging, and now it was urgent to establish a more convenient logistics and transportation system.

　　A wide variety of citrus deep processing products have also impressed foreign guests deeply. In Hubei Huanlejia Food Co. Ltd., citrus, red grapes, pears and all kinds of canned fruits put on the exhibition booth have attracted many foreign guests to stop for tasting and consulting. Many even rushed to buy them.

　　Hubei Qugu International Agricultural Group Zigui County has done more in deep processing. Not only have they processed citrus and navel orange into cans, but also developed orange wine, navel orange pastry, canned citrus, citrus drinks and jam and many other diversified products. All these have effectively promoted the steady growth in enterprise exports.

　　“The products of Qugu Group are diversified with good quality. We are looking forward to further expanding cooperation with them.” said Mohammed, a businessman from Saudi Arabia. Before that, he had been cooperating with Qugu Group for 4 years, mainly importing fresh orange, navel orange and other fresh fruit products. To this fair, he brought another order of 100,000 US $. (Reporter Pei Qiaoli, correspondent Liu Yali)