China is Spain's largest trading partner outside the EU. Among all the imports from Spain, olive oil has seen rapid growth in recent years. Our reporter Wu Bin reports. 

Spanish food is getting popular on the table of Chinese people. Hams and red wine, for example are often seen on the shelves of supermarkets in China. But among those, olive oil from Spain is gaining more popularity in recent years.

WU BIN, Shanghai "Nowadays, if you go to a supermarket in China, you'll find that most of the olive oil is Spanish. In fact, over 92% of all the olive oil China imports is from Spain."

Spain is the biggest producer and exporter of olive oil in the world. Half of the world's olive oil is from Spain.

Cathy Jiang has been doing import business for over a decade, and has been bringing in Spanish olive oil for several years.

CATHY JIANG, General Manager, La Vida Mia "As consumers are more and more concerned about health, the demand for middle and high-end extra virgin olive oil is also increasing. This year we will increase the promotion of Spanish olive oil, hoping to capture more market share."

Cathy Jiang says the COVID-19 pandemic has had a certain impact on imports of bottled extra virgin olive oil. But figures from Olive Oils from Spain, that's the industry organization representing different operators, show that exports to China are 400 times bigger now than 20 years ago, and have seen steady growth since the pandemic.

TERESA PÉREZ, General Manager, Interprofessional Organization of Olive Oils from Spain "The latest figure is that we have about 49, 000 tonnes, close to 50,000 tonnes exported from Spain to China. We have grown in volume 6% compared with 2021 in 2022."

The Olive Oils organization says exports to China can't grow markedly this year because of reduced production around the world. But it will try to at least maintain the same level of exports in 2023 to this fast-growing market. Wu Bin, CGTN, Shanghai.