China greed warning

A Chinese importer of fresh WA produce says Brand WA is the State's bestselling commodity.

Importer and owner of the Lifeland Company Sha Yi says he is ready to take the WA Fresh concept to his massive homeland market.

Mr Sha plans to open his first store in his hometown of Dalian, the first in a chain of stores planned around China exclusively selling fresh WA produce, early in the New Year.

The stores will stock a range of WA fresh food products that have a good reputation in China as clean and healthy, and will include fresh milk, red meat, seafood, honey, grain products and olive oil.

The entrepreneur has an established medical product and cotton bud business in China already, but has more recently moved to Australia to focus on building his import business to China.

Mr Sha Yi said his new company's success would heavily rely on WA fresh food producers helping him promote the clean and green image of the State.

"We find that many WA products are 20 to 30 per cent more expensive than other imported products from around the world and so it is important for the Chinese consumer to understand the clean and green message," he said.

"The products also need to be priced competitively enough for the normal consumer to be able to afford it because this is the market that is expanding very quickly in China."

The Chinese "normal" average salary has risen from between 1000 renminbi and 1500 renminbi ($186 and $278) to 3000 renminbi to 4000 renminbi ($558 to $743), in the past five years.

Mr Sha said five years ago the normal market couldn't afford fresh imported produce. "Now they can afford a moderate amount and they want to see they're getting good value for money," he said.

But Mr Sha said many Australian producers were under the false impression the Chinese market could afford expensive imported products.

Mr Sha said whether the commodity was milk or meat, the expectation of high prices in the Chinese market tended to be the same.

"Australian producers, for example, expect to be able to get a retail price of $7 per litre for milk and top retail prices for premium cuts of meat, but this market cannot be sustained in China in the long term," he said.

"It is important for WA producers to establish a brand while domestic consumption continues to outstrip production in many food commodities in China."

Mr Sha said WA producers needed to work directly with Chinese industry to establish a brand and long-term price stability.

"Although Australian products have a very good reputation in China, more needs to be done to promote that the products coming into China are set apart from imports from other countries," he said.

"The most important thing is that the retail consumer understands the retailer only sells WA products.

"To do that, a clear selling channel from the Australian farm to store shelves needs to be established and promoted."

"I believe Australia can compete with the rest of the world for normal market products, but if we want to charge a premium against other imported products, the Chinese consumer needs to understand why."