A promotional event takes place 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

Chinese modernization and high-level opening-up will bring new opportunities for Honduras' economic development, and China will provide a broad market for quality products like whiteleg shrimp from the Central American country, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Honduras said in a statement posted on the embassy's official website on Wednesday.

The remarks were made during an interview with local media in Honduras regarding the recent launch of Chinese market access for the country's whiteleg shrimp, an event that has drawn wide attention and has been described by the spokesperson as "another important achievement in the practical and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic relations."

Imports of whiteleg shrimp from Honduras also serve as a vivid example of how the relationship enhances the well-being of both peoples, said the spokesperson. "We welcome enterprises in whiteleg shrimp trade to continue exploring the Chinese market," the spokesperson said.

The first batch of whiteleg shrimp imported from Honduras officially entered the Chinese market under a zero-tariff arrangement on October 13, an indication of closer economic and trade ties between China and Honduras in line with the early harvest arrangement of the free trade agreement (FTA), which took effect on September 1.

Under that arrangement, China imposed zero tariffs on frozen shrimp originating from Honduras, according to a statement by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.

"For us, opening diplomatic relations with China has been very important… Our commercial interactions just increase and become more sophisticated with time," Salvador Moncada, the ambassador of Honduras to China, told the Global Times in a previous interview.

From Wednesday to Friday, the 27th China Fisheries & Seafood Expo 2024 is being held in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province. More than 20 representatives from the whiteleg shrimp industry of Honduras will take part.

"We hope that those enterprises will seize the opportunity of the market entry of the first batch of whiteleg shrimp to China, engage in in-depth discussions and connections with Chinese businesses based on market principles and pragmatic cooperation, and achieve more collaborative outcomes," the spokesperson said.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, bilateral trade between China and Honduras reached 10.80 billion yuan ($1.51 billion) in the first nine months of 2024, up 8.2 percent year-on-year. China's imports from Honduras surged by 31.8 percent year-on-year over the same period.

"The economic and trade potential between China and Honduras is enormous… In addition to shrimp, other products like coffee and bananas have significant potential in the Chinese market. Moreover, Chinese investment in Honduras is also developing, providing a driver for the country's economy," Wang Youming, director of the Institute of Developing Countries at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The spokesperson also dismissed unfounded media allegations regarding the whiteleg shrimp trade between China and Honduras. Those media outlets fail to recognize the significant progress made in the trade and do not understand the great potential of the Chinese market, the spokesperson noted.

China has a massive market of 1.4 billion people, with annual whiteleg shrimp consumption reaching about 2.5 million tons and imports reaching 1 million tons, according to the Chinese Embassy. 

"We believe that, through our joint efforts, the whiteleg shrimp trade between the two countries will unlock greater potential and mutual benefit," the spokesperson said.