(Yicai) Oct. 20 -- China is importing many unique products from Middle Eastern countries that are members of the Belt and Road Initiative, with consumers quickly taking to them.

Iranian businessman Mahdi told Yicai that his family has been trading crocus sativus, also known as saffron crocus, mainly in the Middle East and Europe since his grandfather's time. But after 2014, they began selling it to China. With sales rising each year, the country now accounts for a quarter of the company’s annual sales, Mahdi said.

Saffron is a perennial herb originating in Southern Europe and Iran. Its petals have beauty and anti-aging properties and are mainly used as a traditional medicine ingredient in China to treat various diseases. Khorasan in eastern Iran is a major growing region, with the local saffron industry supporting about 200,000 jobs.

In about 2014, Syrian businessman Khada tried to export a container of about 100,000 pieces of handmade hard bar Aleppo soap to China, but because local consumers were unfamiliar with the product and he did not do any marketing, it took three years to sell the soap, he said to Yicai.

But the Belt and Road Initiative, along with policy support at all levels, has been quite helpful to Khada's business, he noted. In the Chinese city of Yiwu, the global capital of small commodities, the local government has provided his firm with a lot of assistance, he pointed out.

“Now my company can sell two to three containers of Aleppo soap in the Chinese market within a year,” Khada said. The soap has become increasingly popular with Chinese consumers in the past two years, especially among younger people, he said.

The BRI, which has just marked its 10th anniversary, is a massive infrastructure project aimed at enhancing trade and connectivity between China, Europe, and other regions. Iran and Syria are two of the Middle Eastern countries involved in the initiative.

Kadah's company is Syria's leading producer of Aleppo soap, handmaking the products purely with virgin olive and laurel oil based on a traditional local recipe. It is the only Syrian Aleppo soap maker allowed to ship the product to China. Its other markets include Japan, Germany, and France.

Usually, the shipments are by sea from the factory in Syria and arrive at the Chinese port in about 45 days, Kadah noted, adding that then Chinese distributors sell the soap online and offline.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin