Shanghai Daily news

A saleswoman introduces fruit from Taiwan to a customer at a supermarket in downtown Jiuguang Plaza yesterday.

The first batch of tariff-free fruit imported from Taiwan arrived in the city yesterday and will begin appearing on supermarket shelves today.
Taiwan-invested Ggood Trade Co Ltd, the city's largest distributor of fruit from the island, imported around 7 tons of produce, which arrived at the Wusong Wharf yesterday morning.
The imports include mangoes, pineapples, lemons, guavas, star fruits and wax jambo apples.
On July 28, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce announced the central government would drop all tariffs on 15 types of fruit produced in Taiwan beginning yesterday.
"With the favorable policy, the retail price of Taiwan fruit is expected to decrease about 10 percent this year. The drop in price won't be as high as many people expected, however, because Taiwan was hit by several natural disasters this year, which have affected harvests," said Chang Chih-lian, Ggood's deputy general manager.
If the fruit could be sent directly to the city, instead of having to stop in Hong Kong first, prices could drop 30 percent, Chang said. In the short term, only people who are relatively well off will be able to afford the fruit, he said.
Experts from the Shanghai Fruit Trade Association predict the city will import about 1,500 tons of fruit from Taiwan during the second half of this year. Only 500 tons from the island were sold in the city last year.
Hou Yuxin, deputy director of the fruit trade association, said that the entry of tariff-free fruit from Taiwan won't have a big effect on sales of mainland-grown fruit as the imports will only make up a small percentage of produce sold in the country.