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China’s 2021 Fruit Import and Export Statistics Released

February 11, 2022

Recently released data from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products indicate that in 2021 China imported 7.03 million metric tons or $13.47 billion worth of fruit, representing year-on-year (YOY) increases of 11.5% and 30.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on global trade, China’s fruit exports in 2021 displayed an 8.3% decrease in volume and a 14.9% decrease in value compared with last year, totaling 3.55 million metric tons and $5.43 billion, respectively.

Imports

According to the statistics, the top-performing fruit import categories remained similar to those in 2020. Ranked in descending order of import value, the top categories were fresh durians, fresh cherries, bananas, mangosteens, fresh longans, fresh kiwifruit, fresh table grapes and fresh dragon fruit.

The top eight fruit suppliers to China in order of import value were Thailand, Chile, Vietnam, the Philippines, New Zealand, Peru, Australia and South Africa.

Fresh durians

Imports of fresh durians reached 822,000 metric tons (+42.7% YOY) or $4.21 billion (+82.4% YOY) in 2021. All of these fresh durian imports originated from Thailand.

Fresh cherries

China’s cherry imports witnessed another record year in 2021, as total volume rose by 48.9% to 314,000 metric tons while total value grew by 20.0% to $1.98 billion. Chile is the main reason behind these substantial increases; the South American country exported 300,000 metric tons (+54.0% YOY) or $1.87 billion (+24.1% YOY) of fresh cherries to China in 2021.

Bananas

China’s banana imports in 2021 stood at 1.86 million metric tons (+6.7% YOY), with an import value of $1.04 billion (+11.2% YOY). The main source countries for bananas were the Philippines ($490 million), Cambodia ($200 million), Vietnam ($160 million) and Ecuador ($140 million).

Mangosteens

China imported 249,000 metric tons (−15.5% YOY) or $770 million (+13.4%) of mangosteens in 2021. Approximately $700 million of these imports originated from Thailand, with the remainder from Indonesia.

Fresh longans

China’s imports of fresh longans reached 469,000 metric tons (+35.3% YOY) in 2021, with an import value of $710 million (+43.6% YOY). The vast majority of these imports originated from Thailand.

Fresh kiwifruit

China imported 128,000 metric tons (+9.6% YOY) or $550 million (+22.2% YOY) of kiwifruit in 2021. The foremost exporter of kiwifruit to China was New Zealand, which shipped 117,000 metric tons (+18.4% YOY) or $520 million (+27.7% YOY) of kiwifruit to China in 2021.

Fresh table grapes

China’s table grape imports in 2021 stood at 95,000 metric tons (−22.3% YOY), with an import value of $540 million (−16.7% YOY). The main source countries were Chile ($180 million), Australia ($160 million), Peru ($140 million) and South Africa ($30 million).

Fresh dragon fruit

In 2021, China imported 588,000 metric tons (−5.0% YOY) or $530 million (−4.8% YOY) of fresh dragon fruit. Vietnam was the major supplier of dragon fruit to China in 2021.

Exports

The top five fruit categories by export value were fresh apples, citrus (including mandarins and satsumas), fresh table grapes, fresh pears and oranges. Looking at export destinations, the top 11 overseas markets in terms of export value were Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Malaysia, the United States, Myanmar, Nepal and Japan. China’s fruit exports to each of the above markets surpassed $100 million in 2021.

Fresh apples

In 2021, China exported 1.08 million metric tons (+1.9% YOY) or $1.43 billion (−1.4% YOY) of fresh apples. The main export destinations were Vietnam ($300 million), Thailand ($210 million), the Philippines ($200 million), Indonesia ($190 million) and Bangladesh ($190 million).

Citrus (including mandarins and satsumas)

Compared to the previous year, China’s citrus exports in 2021 shrank to a volume of 673,000 metric tons (−5.7% YOY) and a value of $1.01 billion (−12.9% YOY). The main export destinations were Vietnam ($420 million), Thailand ($150 million), the Philippines ($110 million), Indonesia ($90 million), Malaysia ($90 million) and Myanmar ($60 million).

Fresh table grapes

In 2021, China exported 351,000 metric tons (−17.5% YOY) or $760 million (−37.6% YOY) of fresh table grapes. The main export destinations were Thailand ($210 million), Vietnam ($160 million), Indonesia ($120 million), the Philippines ($120 million) and Bangladesh ($70 million).

Fresh pears

In 2021, China exported 510,000 metric tons (−5.4% YOY) or $610 million (−9.3% YOY) of fresh pears. The main overseas markets for Chinese pears were Indonesia ($200 million), Vietnam ($150 million), Thailand ($80 million), Hong Kong ($40 million), Malaysia ($30 million) and the Philippines ($30 million).

Oranges

In 2021, China’s orange exports reached 93,000 metric tons (+48.7% YOY) in volume and $160 million (+40.9% YOY) in value. The main overseas markets for Chinese oranges included Vietnam ($110 million) and Hong Kong ($20 million).

Image: Pixabay

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.

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