Initiative helps lemon producers pip competition

CHONGQING - Businessman David Adamia traveled to Tongnan district in Chongqing municipality last month to look for new lemon varieties for his company.

After taking tours of several lemon-growing bases in Tongnan, the sales director of Russia Green Planet signed a 600 million yuan ($85.2 million) purchase order with a local company on Nov 14.

Shortly after that, fresh lemons were loaded on a China-Europe freight train in Chongqing and appeared in Russian markets eight days later.

Adamia said the high quality and reasonable price of Tongnan lemons attracted him to the produce.

Located 30 degrees north of the equator with an average annual temperature of 17.9 C, Tongnan and its surrounding area is one of the world's top lemon-producing areas, along with California and Sicily.

The lemons of Tongnan, however, are largely unknown in the international market as its landlocked location means transporting them is costly and takes time.

"Cargo from Tongnan used to take at least 40 days to reach Moscow, but fresh lemons only have a shelf life of up to a month," Adamia said.

Thanks to the China-Europe freight trains launched under the Belt and Road Initiative, Tongnan lemons can now reach Russia in eight days, and Western Europe in 13 days.