Qianshan center to ensure food safety for Bay Area

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Zhuhai Agricultural Produce Logistics & Safety Testing Center was held in Qianshan on July 27.

A large modern cold-chain logistics complex serving the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the facility is to be operational at the beginning of 2019.

The center is considered a symbol of Zhuhai's advancement in the logistics and safety supervision system of agricultural products. It will ensure that farm produce is safe for the Zhuhai-Zhongshan-Jiangmen Economic Circle, Hong Kong, and Macao markets, they said.

Located on the east side of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Highway, or National Highway 105 Qianshan section in Shangchong area, the center will cover 27,805 sq m and have total floor space of 68,784 sq m.

Groundbreaking ceremony

Costing 262 million yuan ($38.8 million), the project is under the auspices of the Zhuhai Agricultural Investment Holding Group Co Ltd and Inspection Technical Center of the Zhuhai Entry-Exit Inspection & Quarantine Bureau (ZHTC).

A subsidiary of Zhuhai Agricultural Investment Holding Group Co Ltd, the builder and the operator is an agricultural product logistics park company founded with 100 million yuan ($14.8 million) in registered capital.

The base will be equipped with a wholesale and exhibition fair, sorting and processing, cold chain transport, logistics and warehousing, quarantine and monitoring, and operation and management as well as support facilities.

The center is composed of logistics, business and office facilities. The first and second floors will be for the exhibit and sale of frozen and dried goods, agricultural products warehousing and logistics, processing, and distribution. The third floor will provide catering and leisure areas while the fourth floor will be used as a central kitchen. The fifth and sixth floors will function as offices and cold storage, and the two floors above will function as an integrated zone for food safety testing.

Construction site [Photos by Cao Yanxing / Zhuhai Daily]

The center will use advanced technology and be equipped to become a third-party agricultural food quality inspection site for Zhuhai, as well as a provincial-level monitoring demonstration base, according to a project leader.

Furthermore, three major Macao-targeted distribution centers will be integrated to create an import-export demonstration base for agricultural products logistics, distribution, and circulation. Modern, automated, and digitalized agricultural produce logistics management will be applied initially.