Consumers browse cherries inside a supermarket in Shanghai on January 2, 2026. Photo: VCG

Cherry prices have been trending downward at markets in major cities as more ships carrying cherry shipments arrive at Chinese ports from Chile in recent days. A Chinese expert said the scene is a vivid example of how improved trade infrastructure across the Pacific Ocean between China and Latin American countries is boosting trade.

Seen as a premium fruit during the holiday seasons in China, cherries have traditionally commanded high prices. But a number of media outlets have noted a sizable decline in cherry prices in recent days, with drops of up to 40-percent observed at certain points.

The wholesale prices of cherries during the New Year holidays are significantly lower than that of the same period last year, with a general decline ranging from 15 to25 percent. The decrease at the retail level is slightly less pronounced, but overall, prices remain lower than the previous year, Guangzhou-based newspaper ycwb.com reported on Saturday.

In some cities, the price dropped nearly 40 percent compared with that of earlier November, according to the newspaper. Guangzhou, a key Chinese coastal city, has seen large volumes of Chilean cherries arriving in recent days.

At the Port of Guangzhou, the country's largest entry port for Chilean cherries, two container ships carrying a combined total of over 1,300 containers of cherries, weighing 26,000 tons, arrived on Friday, the port authority told the Global Times on Saturday.

At the Port of Tianjin, North China's Tianjin Municipality, the first shipment of 314 containers of Chilean cherries in 2026 arrived at the night of the New Year Day, port authority said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Saturday. Through efficient customs clearance and logistics arrangement, the fruits will arrive at various markets in Beijing, Tianjin and North China's Hebei Province within five years, according to the port.

A Beijing-based consumer told the Global Times that the price of cherries has fallen notably in recent weeks, allowing her to buy more fruit for the same cost.

Gonzalo Matamala, general manager for Asia and China at Chile-based Giddings Fruit, told the Global Times on Saturday that this season has been unusual, with prices generally coming in slight lower than expected.

"However, despite the fact that the market is adjusting to different situations, the market is still good, the market is still China, the market is still here," said Matamala, whose company ships thousands of refrigerated containers of cherries from Chile to China each year. "Slowly we will start recovering and for the moment we still expand our market consumption in this big and beautiful market."

Matamala said the enhanced connectivity between China and Latin America has been a boon for Chinese consumers, and improved logistics now allow cherries to reach ports across China more quickly and efficiently.

This season, the number of direct "Cherry Express" sailings has doubled from last year to 32, Ivan Marambio, president of Frutas de Chile, told the Global Times in an earlier interview.

Wan Zhe, a professor at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Saturday that as trade links between China and Latin American countries strengthen, the cherry trade is becoming more diversified and competitive.

"The improved affordability of imported fruit reflects the tangible results of logistics cooperation between China, Chile and other regional countries, supported by an integrated network of road, air and sea transportation," Wan said. "Cherries are only one example benefiting from the establishment of refrigerated container traffic across the Pacific, with other fruits such as blueberries and grapes also poised to gain."

"These new growth points are helping upgrade the structure of China-Latin American trade while drawing more local companies into the global supply chain," Wan said.