BEIJING,  (INP): Pakistan is needed to expand its mangoes export to China by land transportation, while taking effective pandemic prevention measures in wake of COVID-19.

This was stated in a report published by China Economic Net (CEN) on Wednesday. Quoting Chinese scholar Prof. Cheng Xizhong, the report stated that Pakistan's high-quality mango is very popular in China.

In order to minimize the loss of fruit farmers due to spread of the pandemic, Pakistani government may also formulate policies to encourage its own people to eat more fruits such as mango, to promote domestic consumption to make up for the loss caused by lower net exports.

It is also imperative that the fruits’ deep processing is further developed. So mangoes and other fruits could be made into canned food or dry goods for exports after the pandemic.

Citing Pakistani media, the report stated that due to the coronavirus, exports of mango will drop sharply this year.

Experts predict that Pakistan's mango export will drop by 35-40% this year with temporary suspension of international flights, border closures, rising freight rates, especially the reduction in mango demand.

According to Waheed Ahmed, head of the Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association of Pakistan, mango exports is not expected to exceed 80,000 tons this year.

In 2019, Pakistan exported 130,000 tons of mango to the Middle East, Europe, the United States, Japan, Australia and other countries and regions.

Pakistan is a major fruit producing country, which is known as "oriental fruit basket". Currently, other countries in South Asia, such as India and Bangladesh, and many countries in Southeast Asia are also major fruit producers.

In recent years, China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Hainan province have also planted a large number of fruit trees. Now China produces 300 million tons of fruit every year.

As the fruit production has exceeded the needs of the people in South Asia and Southeast Asia, exports is more difficult and the problem of unsalable is more prominent.