Xinfadi Agricultural Wholesale Market in Beijing suffered from an outbreak of Covid-19 in June 2020. All market operations were temporarily halted for several weeks. Many market traders took this opportunity to move their business to nearby Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market in Hebei. The trade volume in Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market rapidly expanded. After nearly one year of development, Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market became the largest fruit market in north China.
Mr. Yang Jianfei, a spokesperson for Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market explained that, "since the publication of 'An Outline for the Cooeprative Development of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei' the Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market in Hebei is the first relief project outside the capital and the largest platform to receive agricultural wholesale traders who moved out of the capital. The Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market is strategically located adjacent to Beijing and Xiong'an, and is easily accessible via infrastructure on all sides. Furthermore, nearby facilities in the capital region keep the cost price low. Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market attracts many traders from the capital, which further stimulates development in the region."
"The location of the Beijing Xinfadi Market used to be a suburb of Beijing when the project started, but Beijing rapidly expanded and the city quickly swallowed its suburbs. Accessibility has since become a problem. Major roads in the vicinity of Beijing Xinfadi Market become congested every day around the time the market is supplied.
Beijing has embarked upon a massive project that is set to move companies out of the capital and into surrounding regions. More than a thousand companies have already relocated. Xinfadi Market has a long history as one of the foremost agricultural wholesale markets in China, but in the last five years more than 7,300 traders who were active in Beijing Xinfadi Market have now been moved about 80km to Gaobeidian in Hebei.
This new market is called 'Goabeidian Xinfadi Wholesale Market'. Their fruit and vegetable trade volume already exceeded 11.1 million tons and is worth more than 76 billion yuan [11.71 billion USD]. Gaobeidian Xinfadi Wholesale Market is already the most important hub for agricultural wholesale trade in north China," said manager Yang.
"Although the market has been operating for several years now, the most important traders remained in Beijing Xinfadi. That changed in June last year when several cases of Covid-19 were traced back to Beijing Xinfadi Market and the market was temporarily closed down. Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market was able to ensure a steady supply of fruit and vegetables to the capital, and quickly became the transfer market for agricultural products from all over the country that were destined for the market in Beijing.
During this emergency, Gaobeidian Xinfadi market built up reserves and actively connected with production areas to secure a steady supply of fruit and vegetables for the capital region. Traders were active around the clock to put fresh fruit and vegetables on the tables of consumers in Beijing and surrounding areas.
When asked about the advantages of Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market, manager Yang replied, "traffic obstructions in Beijing grow more severe every day. Trucks are regularly stuck in the streets leading up to Beijing Xinfadi Market. Many traders who deal in large volumes find Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market more suitably located and easier to reach. In addition, prices in Beijing are higher. Having a stand in Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market can help traders lower their overheads."
"Domestic fruit accounts for about 70% of the fruit trade volume in Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market, and the remaining 30% consists of import fruit. Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market hopes to make import fruit trade more convenient to attract more premium foreign brands. This will help satisfy the growing consumer demand for import fruits. In order to create a smooth supply chain for import fruit in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, we are actively preparing a 'northern maritime route' that will channel import fruit through Tianjin port and into the capital region. We are building a 'transit core' for import fruit from countries across the globe with a destination in north China," said manager Yang.
"Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market relies on the Tianjin port to be the bridgehead for import fruit from overseas production areas. The infrastructure that connects Tianjin and Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market will offer fruit importers with more efficient services and will supply the capital region and north China in general with safe, top-quality import fruit. This cooperation between Tianjin and Gaobeidian also means that import fruit will no longer have to transit through Shanghai or Guangzhou, but will directly arrive in Tianjin. The port in Tianjin will become a first-grade port for large-scale import of top-quality fruit. Our cooperation with Tianjin port has already yielded its first results. We now receive import fruit shipped directly from Egypt, Vietnam, and Chile to Tianjin. In the future the number of direct shipping routes will only increase."
"In addition, Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market offers a comprehensive set of services to support fruit importers, including custom clearance, inspection, storage and distribution, and other supply chain services. This will help fruit importers to streamline their entire supply chain from production area to consumer market."
"As for domestic fruit, we hope to support this growing market and facilitate connections between production areas in north and south China. For example, we hope to secure a growing supply of fruit from production areas in south China, and we hope to connect traders in Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market with their counterparts in south China. We hope Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market will become an outlet for premium fruit brands, which will help develop the retail market in north China," said manager Yang.
When asked about the schedule for future plans, manager Yang explained that the AI cold supply chain district in Gaobeidian Xinfadi Market is about to be opened for business. This will support the trade in frozen products, aquatic products, meat, eggs, and fowl.
The AI cold supply chain district will have storage space for more than 500,000 tons, including large-scale climate-controlled warehouses, frozen product trading areas, fresh aquatic food trading areas, as well as an AI distribution center, selection and processing centers, inspection and quarantine centers, and an e-commerce support center.
The trading district will rely on information technology to combine "internet + comprehensive cold supply chain + supply chain financing" and create an integrated system of cold supply and storage, processing, and AI distribution. In addition, we have also invested 1.05 billion yuan [160 million USD] in a food processing district that will include resource storage facilities, a central kitchen area, refined food processing areas, an inspection and quarantine center as well as supporting facilities. We are simultaneously constructing an information platform that will realize our dream of 'initial processing in production areas, refined processing in the market, and a clean supply of fruit and vegetables for the capital region'.
For more information:
Yang Jianfei - Manager
Gaobeidian Xinfadi Agricultural Wholesale Market
Tel.: +86 18632213229