Salvador Moncada, the ambassador of Honduras to China, speaks at a supermarket in Beijing on October 13, 2024, marking the official entry of Honduran whiteleg shrimp to the Chinese market. Photo: Xing Xiaojing/GT

The first batch of whiteleg shrimp imported from Honduras officially entered the Chinese market under a zero tariff arrangement on Sunday, an indication of closer economic and trade ties between China and the Latin American country in line with the early harvest arrangement of the free trade agreement (FTA), which took effect on September 1.

Speaking at a ceremony in a supermarket in Beijing, Salvador Moncada, the ambassador of Honduras to China, expressed his excitement over the milestone.

"It has been a great experience and the event has been very nice," he said, noting that he would buy some shrimp at his own expense to show his support for economic and trade cooperation between China and Honduras.

The promotion attracted many local residents to stop and check it out. After trying the shrimp, some of them told the Global Times that they plan to buy some.

In addition to shrimp, Moncada said that Honduras' coffee, tobacco, melons and other products are also very high-quality, and he believes that they will have the opportunity to encounter Chinese consumers in the near future.

"For us, opening diplomatic relations with China has been very important… The interactions and the commercial interactions just increase and become more sophisticated with time," the ambassador told the Global Times.

In line with the early harvest arrangement of the FTA, China imposed zero tariffs on frozen shrimp originating from Honduras, according to a statement by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.

The two countries established diplomatic relations in March 2023, launched the first round of bilateral FTA negotiations in July of the same year and signed an FTA early harvest arrangement in February 2024.

The development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation has entered the fast lane since the establishment of diplomatic relations, marked by the official entry of the first batch of whiteleg shrimp from Honduras on Sunday, Wang Youming, director of the Institute of Developing Countries at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Previously, most Latin American seafood products purchased by Chinese consumers, especially shrimp, came from Ecuador, and now, Honduras has joined the ranks of suppliers, Wang said, noting that China's import of Honduran whiteleg shrimp will significantly boost Honduras' fisheries and its overall trade development.

According to data released by Chinese customs, bilateral trade reached 9.36 billion yuan ($1.32 billion) in the first eight months of 2024, an increase of 9.1 percent year-on-year. China's imports from Honduras surged by 34.4 percent year-on-year over the same period.

Not only has there been an expansion of agricultural, livestock and fishery product exports from Honduras to China, but it is also evident that Chinese investment in Honduras is increasing, as the country needs to enhance its investment in infrastructure, Wang said.