From nuts in South Africa to seafood in Türkiye, from kiwi fruit in Iran to dried cherry in Uzbekistan, these "far away" delicacies along the Silk Road become "close in front of us". The reporter learned from the 2025 "the Belt and Road" Customs Food Safety Cooperation Conference recently that the General Administration of Customs of China has signed 14 new cooperation agreements with 10 countries, including South Africa and Belarus, adding 15 kinds of secondary agricultural food products to China. In recent years, food trade has become a new growth point of trade between China and countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road". According to customs statistics, in the first three quarters of this year, China's import and export to the countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" reached 17.37 trillion yuan, up 6.2% year on year, accounting for 51.7% of the total import and export value, and the proportion increased by 1.1 percentage points, of which the food trade volume reached 915.24 billion yuan, up 2.5% year on year. How to enable more Chinese consumers to taste delicious and diverse food from all over the world at their doorstep is the direction we are working together with colleagues from various countries. ”Zhao Zenglian, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs, introduced that since the formal establishment of the "the Belt and Road" customs food safety cooperation mechanism in 2023, China has signed 197 cooperation documents on access to agricultural and food products with relevant countries, and more than 428000 enterprises have been approved and registered to import agricultural and food products. Food safety is a cross-border livelihood issue and the cornerstone of trust in international agricultural food trade. "Today, Thailand's durian can be transported to the Chinese supermarket in 13 hours, and China's cold water salmon can reach the Indonesian market in 39 hours. These cooperation initiatives have made a positive contribution to deepening exchanges and cooperation between relevant countries and expanding economic and trade exchanges." Sun Meijun, Director of the General Administration of Customs, said that through the joint efforts, frank communication and practical cooperation of all parties, the "the Belt and Road" customs food safety cooperation has been recognized by more and more co construction countries, and has also attracted more and more co construction countries to actively participate, truly realizing the goal of jointly promoting trade facilitation, building food safety defense lines, and sharing food safety achievements. The global food chain is intertwined with each other, and food safety must be led by global governance, allowing countries to jointly establish rules, communicate information, and prevent risks. As one of the important outcome documents of the "the Belt and Road" Customs Food Safety Cooperation Conference in 2025, the participants jointly issued the "Shanghai Declaration on Promoting Trade Facilitation and Sharing Food Safety", which further consolidated consensus for deepening the "the Belt and Road" Customs food safety cooperation and promoting the development of trade security and facilitation. During the meeting, the "Silk Road Food Safety" information platform was officially launched. Eleven countries, including Uzbekistan and Bolivia, signed the "the Belt and Road" Customs Food Safety Cooperation Mechanism Charter, and officially joined the mechanism, with 18 member countries. Simplify the access requirements for 11 categories of low-risk products such as processed aquatic products and frozen fruits, and establish a green channel for fresh and perishable food... In recent years, the "the Belt and Road" customs food safety cooperation mechanism has made progress in many aspects. Safety is the cornerstone, and it requires countries to work together to pave the way and protect it. ”Zhao Zenglian said that the original intention of establishing the "the Belt and Road" customs food safety cooperation mechanism is to further strengthen cooperation in the field of agricultural and food product safety with counterparts in the "the Belt and Road" countries and even in a broader field, jointly improve food safety governance capacity, continue to expand the scale of cross-border trade in agricultural and food products, and improve the level of facilitation. From farm to table, food trade has long crossed mountains and seas, and only global governance can achieve "safety in one place and peace of mind everywhere". Sun Meijun said that China Customs will implement the global governance initiative, vigorously carry forward the spirit of the Silk Road, deepen practical cooperation in food safety governance, promote safer and more convenient trade in agricultural and food products, plan the future development direction of the "the Belt and Road" food safety cooperation, and truly transform the "planning map" of cooperation into a "reality map" that benefits the people of the country, so that global consumers can share the achievements of high-level food safety governance. (New Society)