On January 13th, Robert Hanson, Minister-Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in China, led a delegation to visit Yuhu Cold Chain (Guangzhou) Trading Centre. Huang Jian, Director and Senior Vice President of Yuhu Cold Chain as well as Chairman of Yuhu Cold Chain (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd., led the management team to accompany the visit and host the seminar. Both parties conducted constructive exchanges on issues such as deepening China-U.S. agricultural product trade and addressing cold chain logistics technology challenges, and reached multiple consensuses on promoting the alignment of industry standards and exploring new-type cooperation platforms.

The delegation consists of officials from multiple departments of the U.S. Embassy in China, including the Agricultural Section, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and Agricultural Trade Office, covering key agricultural product sectors such as meat, dairy products, nuts, and fruits. Participants in the visit included Terrance Mitchell, Agricultural Specialist of APHIS under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the U.S. Embassy in China; Victoria Dokken, Director of the Agricultural Section; Qiao Yang, Agricultural Expert; Weng Shanggang, Agricultural Scientist of APHIS; Xian Weiwei, Market Specialist of the Agricultural Trade Office at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou; Chen Kang, Agricultural Market Specialist; Li Jianhua, Founding President of the Guangdong Cold Chain Association; Deng Zijun, Project Assistant to the President; and Li Huang, Chairman of the Ready-to-Eat Food Committee of the Guangdong Food Circulation Association.

U.S. Delegation: Committed to Promoting Pragmatic Agricultural Cooperation

The delegation conducted an on-site visit to core functional areas of the Guangzhou Trading Centre, including the trading hall, front-store and back-warehouse area, logistics zone, and fully automated AS/RS (Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems) cold storage. They gained first-hand understanding of Yuhu Cold Chain's innovative practices and operational achievements in green high-standard park construction, smart warehousing management, and end-to-end supply chain services. The park's advanced infrastructure and smart digital process management was highly impressive to the delegation.

In the subsequent seminar, Robert Hanson stated that the visit aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the cutting-edge development of China's cold chain market. He introduced: "USDA agencies in China have been operating for more than 40 years, continuously supporting the development of U.S.-China agricultural product trade through releasing market reports, providing technical exchanges, and cooperating with industry associations." He emphasized that agricultural product trade is a stable pillar of U.S.-China bilateral economic and trade relations, and technical teams from both sides are conducting pragmatic communications on the alignment of regulatory standards.

Delegation members specifically introduced institutions such as the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC). Their models in supply chain technology empowerment and market development share many similarities with Yuhu Cold Chain's practices. They expressed concern about the one-stop full-chain services provided by Yuhu Cold Chain and its close cooperation with industry associations, and recognized the importance of participating in international standard-setting for enterprises' future competitiveness.

Yuhu Cold Chain: Leading Industry Upgrading with Innovative Models

Huang Jian extended a welcome to the delegation's visit to Yuhu Cold Chain (Guangzhou) Trading Centre and elaborated on the company's innovative business model and strategic layout. He introduced that Yuhu Cold Chain's core strategy is to build the highest-standard green and sustainable cold chain facilities, and it has operated projects in multiple key logistics nodes across China. The company focuses on building an online-merge-offline (OMO) integrated supply chain service platform, integrating domestic and international procurement on behalf of clients, smart warehousing, trunk line logistics, and supply-chain finance services, forming a full-chain service system. He particularly pointed out that the procurement financing service cooperating with international financial institutions is a key support for empowering clients to carry out international business.

In terms of trade expansion, Yuhu Cold Chain exerts efforts in both import and export markets. It not only helps clients directly purchase from overseas through online platforms but also successfully developed export business recently, hosting the "Greater Bay Area Food Export Promotion Conference" to assist high-quality products of local processing enterprises in entering markets such as the United States, the European Union, and Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, it invited FDA officials to interpret market access rules, aiming to promote a virtuous cycle between high-quality Chinese food going global and high-quality international imports. The Guangzhou Trading Centre has obtained Customs AEO Certification, enabling it to provide efficient customs clearance services. Additionally, Yuhu Cold Chain has laid out new projects in hub cities adjacent to major ports such as Tianjin and Nanjing, forming an efficient circulation hub network radiating the whole country together with the Guangzhou Trading Centre.

Addressing the long-standing hidden danger of "cold chain breakage" in the industry, Yuhu Cold Chain has built its own high-standard logistics fleet and operation system to achieve precise temperature control throughout the entire process from the source to the terminal. Huang Jian pointed out that this deeply integrated supply chain model has become a model for the high-quality development of China's cold chain industry.

Industry Perspective: Promoter of Cold Chain Standards in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

Li Jianhua, Founding President of the Guangdong Cold Chain Association, shared industry insights during the seminar. As the leading unit in formulating cold chain standards for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the association's promoted standards have been recognized by the Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation and promoted nationwide as an excellent case.

Li Jianhua proposed that "When it comes to cold chain in China, all eyes are on Guangdong; and within Guangdong, Guangzhou sets the pace". He pointed out that leading enterprises represented by Yuhu Cold Chain are not only leading in hardware facilities but also pioneering changes in the national industry in terms of business models and technology application. He particularly mentioned that Yantian Port in Shenzhen, as China's only frozen product import port with international green certification, and the "port-park" synergy effect formed with Yuhu Cold Chain (Guangzhou) Trading Centre, are key advantages for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to build an international cold chain hub.

During the seminar, all parties agreed that driven by both consumption upgrading and industrial transformation, reducing intermediate links, improving digitalization, and promoting full-process traceability are irreversible trends in the cold chain industry. This will ultimately benefit both the production and consumption ends and create greater value.

All parties reached multiple consensuses on future cooperation directions, including strengthening support for the establishment of a regular communication mechanism between the U.S. Agricultural Trade Office, industry associations, and the Guangdong Cold Chain Association; exploring the expansion of Yuhu Cold Chain's OMO platform into one of the efficient and transparent digital service platforms for China-U.S. agricultural product trade; and jointly promoting international benchmarking and mutual recognition in fields such as cold chain logistics operation specifications and green building standards.

This visit has injected new momentum into cooperation in the cold chain field of China-U.S. agricultural products. With its innovative business model and solid infrastructure layout, Yuhu Cold Chain has demonstrated enormous potential as a modern supply chain service platform to connect global markets and improve industrial efficiency. All parties will continue to maintain close communication, transform consensuses into specific projects, and jointly contribute to the stability and prosperity of China-U.S. agricultural product trade.

Guo Yehua, Vice President of Yuhu Cold Chain and General Manager of Yuhu Baiying Company; Wang Xiaodong, General Manager of Yuhu Cold Chain (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.; and Zhang Chunhua, Vice Chairman, also participated in the seminar.