From coffee to dates, food tells a story of close connection

If one single item could tell the story of agricultural connection between Hainan Province and the Middle East, it would surely be the date. Behind this fruit, carrying the sunlight of the desert, lies a pledge that spans mountains and seas.

The story begins in October 2019, when a summit meeting between Chinese and UAE leaders gave shape to a warm and far-reaching agreement, planting the seeds of agricultural cooperation between the two regions.

In 2021, 1,500 date palm seedlings set out from Abu Dhabi, crossing oceans to take root in Hainan's soil. These saplings were never merely symbols of friendship; they came with clear cooperative objectives. Hainan simultaneously advanced the construction of a date palm germplasm resource protection and utilisation centre, planned 800 mu of trial planting area and established provincial-level international science and technology cooperation bases, with dedicated research projects receiving official support. After three years of careful cultivation, the first batch of 1,500 date palms blossomed and bore fruit across Hainan in 2024.

In December of the same year, the Global Tropical Agriculture Innovation Conference  was held in Sanya, Hainan. During the conference, the UAE donated a second batch of 23,500 date palm seedlings to China, expanding this agricultural bond between desert and island by more than fifteenfold. By April 2025, the town of Longjiang in Qionghai city had formally signed an agreement with the Coconut Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences to jointly conduct regional trial planting and establish a date palm industry research base. From initial introduction to localised scientific research and industrial exploration, the date palm cooperation is deepening with each passing season.

Yet this agricultural partnership has never been a one-way street.

While Middle Eastern date palms take root in Hainan, fresh produce from the island's farms is steadily making its way to dining tables across Dubai. Yellow okra from Sanya and eggplants from Danzhou, transported through increasingly efficient logistics channels, arrive fresh in Middle Eastern markets, offering local consumers a distinctive Chinese option.

Hainan's coffee industry is also setting its sights on the Middle Eastern market. Leading coffee enterprises represented by Zhengda Xinglong Coffee have identified the Middle East as a core direction for international expansion. Leveraging  island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), imported coffee processing equipment and high-quality raw materials benefit from zero-tariff treatment, substantially reducing the costs of industrial upgrading. Middle Eastern consumers, who favour the rich, full-bodied flavours that align closely with Xinglong's traditional charcoal roasting techniques passed down through generations, are proving a receptive audience. The market space is steadily opening up.

These everyday food items moving across borders would not be possible without increasingly robust connectivity. Direct international routes now link Haikou with Abu Dhabi and Dubai, while the first direct container shipping route from Hainan's Yangpu Port to Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Port has completed its maiden voyage. The maritime and aerial corridors of the Silk Road have been fully opened.

Look more closely, and a larger picture emerges. Whether dates, coffee or fresh vegetables, these ordinary items of daily life trace journeys of thousands of kilometres. Behind each journey lie deep collaborations spanning agricultural technology, cold-chain logistics, aviation, shipping and trade systems.

From the distant sound of camel bells on the ancient Silk Road to today's partnership in hand, these visible, tangible everyday connections serve as the most vivid testament to cooperation between the two regions. They are not merely numbers on statistical reports but tangible, mutually beneficial outcomes woven into the fabric of daily life.

This episode is part of "Caravans, Dhows and Coconuts: The Silk Roads across Land and Sea," a series exploring the evolving ties between Hainan Province and the UAE through culture, education, agriculture, technology and trade.