An Overview of
China's
Fruit & Vegetables Industry
Murat Dede
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Department of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
4, Liangmahe Nanlu Road
Beijing 100600, P.R. China
www.nlpekagr.com
Foreword
This report on China's fruit and vegetables industry has been
written as part of my assignment for the Agriculture, Nature
and Food Quality Department of the Embassy of the Kingdom
of the Netherlands in Beijing. While conducting this research
I learned a lot about agriculture and in specific the Chinese
fruit and vegetable sector and the position it takes in the
world. During my research I have visited the International
Agricultural New and High Technology Industrial Park in
Langfang and took part in the ASEM Forum on Rural
Development. Moreover, related seminars and exhibitions
showed added value for they provided me with insights. In
conclusion, this traineeship has been a good overall learning
process and I enjoyed being part of the LNV team in China.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Chapter 1
Introduction
7
Chapter 2
Introduction to China
8
Chapter 3
China's Fruit & Vegetables Industry
12
Chapter 4
Market and chain characteristics
19
Chapter 5
China's Fruit and Vegetables trade
22
Chapter 6
Technology and Innovations
33
Chapter 7
Conclusion & SWOT
34
References
37
Appendixes
39
5
Chapter 1 Introduction
The fruit and vegetable markets together are the largest
sectors of the retail food market in China and China is
world's largest producer of fruit and vegetables (www.
industrialnewsupdate.com, Rabobank, 2006). Both markets
developed quickly and showed growth in area and
production in the last few years. The vegetable output was
583 million tons in 2006. A major objective of the Chinese
government is to develop its rural economy and help farmers
to become more affluent. Furthermore, the Chinese
government is paying more and more attention to food
safety and food quality. The Chinese fruit and vegetable
sector is developing quickly as the sector is relatively
underdeveloped compared to 'western' or more advanced
countries. There are changes in different areas in the sector
towards modernization. This report aims to get a better
understanding of the Chinese fruit and vegetables industry.
Moreover, it aims to inform Dutch companies about the
potential opportunities in the Chinese market for fruit and
vegetables and provide guidance for the Dutch Ministry of
Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality that supports and
advises industry initiatives.
Scope of research
The Chinese fruit and vegetable industry is a comprehensive
sector and it would be unfeasible to provide detailed
information on all elements, for example all types of fruits
and vegetables. Only the issues that are important will be
paid attention to. In detail, a general description of the fruit
and vegetable sector will be given with emphasis on the
following subjects: the law and regulations, developments
regarding food quality and safety, production, supply chain,
and international trade. Research will focus on the sector
of fruit and vegetables in general, with specific emphasis
on the following fruits: apples, pears, strawberries, berries,
and stone fruits; and emphasis on the following vegetables:
mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, and asparagus.
studies about the industry, company websites and official
statistics from China's National Bureau of Statistics, United
States Department of Agriculture, Euromonitor, and the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Additional information is obtained from experts in the field
of agriculture, fruit and vegetable sector.
A short word of notice on the official statistics with regard
to the fruit and vegetable consumption and production
used within this report. Most of the data used has been
derived, directly and indirectly, from China's National Bureau
of Statistics, Euromonitor International, and the United
States Department of Foreign Agricultural Service. Upon
researching the data, it became clear that there are some
discrepancies between statistics produced by the various
sources. These discrepancies can be explained from the fact
that different methods of data gathering are employed,
which therefore lead to other results. Nevertheless, despite
these differences, the statistics do provide a general 'picture'
of the current situation, and the way certain trends are
evolving in the Chinese fruit and vegetable industry. It must
be noted that the provided numbers and percentages found
in this report are estimated and should not be used as a
sole source of information for decision-making.
Structure of report
This report begins with a general overview of the People's
Republic of China with a description of the main economic
indicators, political developments, quality systems and
intellectual property rights. Chapter three will look into the
fruit and vegetable sector and it will cover the production
figures of fruit and vegetables and the countries main
production regions. In chapter four the retail and the supply
chain will be handled. Chapter five highlights China's
international trade in fruit and vegetables, followed by
chapter six which will handle the innovations and technology
in the industry. In the final chapter, chapter seven, the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the
fruit and vegetable industry will be given together with
concluding remarks.
Data research
Research is conducted through the study of secondary
sources taken from EU agencies, articles, newspaper, case
7
Chapter 2 Introduction to China
The People's Republic of China was founded on October 1,
1949. With a population that exceeds 1.3 billion which will
grow to about 1.5 billion people in 2030, it is the most populous
country in the world. China is situated in eastern Asia on the
western shore of the Pacific Ocean, with an area of 9.6 million
square kilometers. Despite its huge size, merely 13.2% is suited
for farmland. Its continental coastline extends for about 18.000
kilometers, and along its sea surface there are over 5.000
islands. The country is divided into 23 provinces, five
autonomous regions, 4 municipalities (city provinces), and
two special administrative regions.
2.1 General overview
In 1978, the Chinese economy gradually transformed from
a centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented
economy. The restructuring of the economy and resulting
efficiency gains have contributed to a more than tenfold
increase in GDP since 1978. Even in recent years, the annual
growth rate of the Chinese economy (about 10%) is among
the highest in the world, while most nations are faced with
faced economic slowdown or even recession. China's
growing economy has impacted the population's food
consumption patterns. As the population's living standards
have improved, the quantity of food consumed has increased
and the values, patterns and food consumption habits have
changed. Economic development has been more
concentrated around coastal provinces, explaining the large
differences in income per capita between rural and urban
regions. Millions of surplus rural workers move between
villages and cities, taking on part-time, low-paying jobs for
a living, whereas deterioration of the environment, caused
by the rapid economic development, could be seen as a
long-term threat to growth. Nowadays, the Chinese
government is taking measures to decrease the gap between
the regions, especially the rural and urban differences.
Figure 1: Map of China
Table 1: Comparison China and The Netherlands
Year 2007
Area
Population
Number of households
Gross Domestic Product (USD)
GDP per capita (USD)
Import from Netherlands (EUR)
Export to Netherlands (EUR)
Currency
(Source: EVD, CIA, and China Statistical Yearbook, 2007)
8
People's Republic of China
9.596.960 km2
1,315 million
539.1 million
3.249 trillion
5.300
3659.3 million
26216.0 million
Renminbi
The Netherlands
41.000 km2
16 million
7 million
754.9 billion
38.600
Euro
2.2 Political developments
China became an official member of the WTO in December
2001. The Chinese government has been focusing on marketoriented developments, while its national economy is still
officially directed according to Five-Year Plans that lay out
growth goals in various industries. These guidelines are put
together by a group of experts from various fields to ensure
it covers every aspect in relation to China's economic and
social development. In October 2005, the Central Committee
for the Chinese Communist Party approved the draft version
of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). Its main aim is to
boost modern agriculture, develop new relationships
between industry and agriculture, cities and the countryside
and increase rural affluence (Naughtons, 2005).
The construction of New Socialist Countryside is a major
objective in the 11th Five-Year Plan. It is believed that the
country can only ensure sustainable development of its
national economy and continuous expansion of domestic
demand, by developing its rural economy and helping
farmers to become more affluent. Raising rural household
incomes is of great importance as the urban-rural gap has
widened greatly since 1985, which has become a large
source of social inequality.
The Chinese government aims to modernize its agriculture
by establishing major farming and processing plants, and
adjusting geographical distribution. Measures to reach this
objective include: increased rural investment, agricultural
subsidies and improved social services. This new policy is
a significant change from the previous focus on economic
development since more attention will be given to the
redistribution of resources and a rebalance of income.
The central government has further pledged sustained
increases in farmers' incomes, more industrial support for
agriculture and faster development of public services. In
2006 agricultural tax was ended and farm subsidies were
raised. The government will also increase rural health
subsidies to revitalize the cooperative health system. These
measures promise greater protection and more stability in
rural areas. More efforts will be invested in the development
of public rural services and agricultural infrastructure (www.
anhuinews.com; Naughtons, 2006).
Priorities in the 11th Five Year Plan regarding agriculture
are green, organic agricultural products and customized
high-end products. The government is also focusing on
building strong brands with high added value. The
agricultural production processes have to become more
standardized, less polluting, larger in scale, safer and plant
diseases must be prevented better (11th Five-Year Plan).
2.3 Laws & regulations
In recent years the Chinese government is paying more and
more attention to food safety and food quality. The National
People's Congress and the State Council are the main policy
makers related to food safety and food regulation (State
Council, 2007). A dozen other institutions are involved as
well and the major policy and implementing institutions
include the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Administration
for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the
Ministry of Health, the State Administration for Industry
and Commerce (Liu et al, 2004) and the State Food and Drug
Administration.
The latest development regarding food safety is China's
new draft on Food Safety Law. The law is formulated to
prevent, control and eliminate food contamination and
hazards to prevent and reduce the occurrence of food-borne
diseases, to assure food safety, safeguard people's health,
and to enhance people's health. Moreover, the law comprizes
of the following subjects: Surveillance and Assessment of
Food Safety Risks, Food Safety Standards, Inspection and
Testing of Food, Food Production and Trade, Food Import
and Export, Prevention of, and Response, to Food Safety
Incidents, Supervision and Administration, Legal Liabilities,
Supplementary Provisions (The PRC Food Safety Law 2008).
This law has been drafted and is waiting for approval.
Despite these laws and regulations China still has major
deficiencies in food safety standards, food safety monitoring,
interagency cooperation in food safety management, and
food safety results. No consistent system of standards and
monitoring exists that clearly reveals China's food safety
status. However, fragmented evidence indicates that food
safety is a significant issue for the country's fruit and
vegetable markets. A report by the State Council estimates
that 500,000 Chinese suffer from pesticide poisoning every
year and that the death toll from pesticides may exceed
500. For fruits and vegetables, scattered tests show that
often up to 30% of samples of vegetables have residue
levels in excess of the norm. There are still major problems
with pesticide residues that result from inadequate control
and enforcement of pesticide production, marketing and
use. A second and growing problem is heavy metals and
other contaminants from emissions of industry, power
generation and transport (World Bank, 2006).
Furthermore, in general farmers are not well educated and
therefore they know little about the proper use of fertilizers
and pesticides. The high usage of these fertilizers and
pesticides on vegetables and fruits has been the norm due
to lack of good knowledge about the crop and the risks of
the residues. Another reason for the high usage is that
China wants to be selfsufficient in food production. It
accomplishes the high level of food production by doubleand triple-cropping and applying large quantities of fertilizers
(Gale, 2002).
A remark has to be made that the above mentioned is not
wholly applicable for the export-oriented production. The
fruits and vegetables produced for export have much higher
safety standards and separate inspection and monitoring
systems. Moreover, products for the export market often
have separate production and marketing chains from
products for the domestic market (Calvin, Gale, et al, 2006).
9
To ensure quality for the export market enterprises are
contracting with farmers and companies at the end of the
supply chain are backwards integrating. This way enterprises
have direct control over the chemicals to be used (Huang
& Gale, 2006).
2006 a total of 4,615 manufacturers were producing 12,868
kinds of certified green food with an export value of US $2
billion. Until now the total of certified green food has
reached 17,520, of which 2,568 are certified vegetable
products and 2,213 certified fruit products.
Nowadays, the quality gap between domestic products and
export-oriented products is decreasing. One of the reasons
for this is the growing domestic market and the growing
awareness of food quality and safety among consumers.
The response is that consumers demand more organic food
and green food. Furthermore, the government is trying to
strengthen the inspection and supervising of the products.
A part of these efforts is the enforcement of the Action Plan
for Pollution-free Agricultural Products (APPAP). Another
step the government takes towards food quality and safety
is schooling farmers in how to produce, and make them
aware of the dangers of some pesticides to their own health
and their environment.
In 2003, the GFDC was divided into two departments: the
Green Food Department and the Organic Food Department.
The latter is responsible for developing organic food and
organic food certification. According to a report of the
European Union (2008) on organic farming in 2006 2.1
millions hectares were certified as organic farmland in
China. This places China as the third largest country in the
world in terms of certified organic farmland after Australia
(11.8 millions hectares) and Argentina (3.9 millions hectares).
Moreover, organic agricultural products reached 2,278 by
the end 2006 with an export value of US $110 million. The
export value of green food is much bigger than the organic
food at the moment. Nevertheless, the number of organic
products is growing rapidly. In 2006 it grew by 78.4% (Agr.
yearbook, 2007). Furthermore, local certification bodies
expect the following development in the coming ten years
(Scoones, 2008):
- Average annual increase in production volume will be
30 - 50%;
- Organic agricultural production volume and area will be
1 - 3% of China total agriculture production;
- Organic exports will reach or exceed 5% of total food
exports by volume;
- China's organic food will gain 5% global market share.
2.4 Pollution-Free products, Green Food
and Organic Food
The enforcement of the Action Plan for Pollution-free
Agricultural Products (APPAP) is a government response to
solve food safety problems. Its overall objective is to
supervise, inspect and control the whole process of
agricultural production and marketing for food safety
purposes and to improve the overall level of agricultural
product safety in China (Liu et al, 2004). The APPAP was
launched in 2001 with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) in
charge of it.
The two main quality labels in China, managed by the Center
for Agri-Food Quality and Safety and the China Green Food
Development Center (CGFDC), both under MoA, are the
pollution-free (Wugonghai) label and the green food label.
The first label was launched in 2002 and since then the
number of certified products and companies has grown
exponentially. Up to the end of 2006, 23,636 products have
been certified, equivalent to 144 million tons (against 1,971
products and 12 million tons in 2003). By the end of 2007,
24% of China arable land used for crop and plant production
has been certified as pollution-free (Scoones, 2008).
The second label, green food (Lüse Shipin) is a food
certification program and it includes two levels: grade A
is the basic integrated management system and grade is
AA is presented as equivalent to an organic standard. As
for the pollution-free label, the green food label is promoted
very actively by the MoA (Scoones, 2008). According to Paul
(2007) green food has been a remarkable successful Chinese
innovation in quality food production. Furthermore, he
states that because of its success, it is a strategy that could
be considered for replication elsewhere. Besides testing
residues, green food includes field inspections and
inspections of processing procedures (Paul, 2007). In 2006,
2046 manufacturers were certified to produce 5,676 certified
green foods (Agr. yearbook, 2007). Compared to 2005 it is
an increase of 12.2% and 11.8% respectively. By the end of
10
In addition to above expectations, Mr. Ma Aiguo, director
of the Center for Agri-food Quality and Safety, announced
that China will certify another 20,000 kinds of pollutionfree farm produce, green food and organic food during the
11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) period and increase their
share in all of the agricultural products on the market to
35% (www.mofcom.gov.cn). Looking nowadays, there is a
rapid development in pollution-free, green food and organic
food. Since 2003, the average growth rate for the three
product groups has been 83% and enlarged 4.3 times in
volume, which accounted for 18% of the total volume of
national edible agricultural products and processing
commodity.
The main reason for companies to begin organic farming
is achieving a premium price. However, Chinese consumers
generally did not understand the organic standard, or
whether it was beyond the purchasing power of the
consumer. So far, the domestic consumer market remains
poorly informed about organic produce and is skeptical of
its certification (Scoones, 2008).
2.5 Intellectual property rights
In 1997 China agreed to the 1978 version of the convention
for the International Union for the Protection of New
Varieties of Seeds (UPOV) (USDA, 2005). The responsible
organizations are the MoA Department of Science and
Education, which receives all applications for new varieties
of crops and plants who should be protected by breeders'
rights and the State Forestry Administration (SFA) receives
applications for trees and shrubs. In contrast to the
Netherlands it is not possible to apply for a Plant Variety
Right for all type of plants. A plant Genus or Species has
to be listed by MoA or SFA (list can be found in appendix
one). When it is listed the government will examine the
varieties novelty, distinctiveness, uniformity and stability.
The approved applications receive registration breeders'
rights (PBR). The PBR holder is entitled to compensation
when propagating material of the protected variety is
produced or sold for commercial purposes without the right
holder's consent. There are two exceptions: breeding and
other scientific activities, and for farmers propagating
material of a protected variety harvested on their property
for their own use (www.ipaustralia.gov.au). According to
Plantum NL, a Dutch trade organization, the reason that
it is not possible to protect all varieties of plants is because
the responsible Chinese authorities don't have the technical
expertise to conduct breeders' rights examination (Press
release, 2008).
Since 1999 several Dutch companies applied for Plant Variety
Protection (PVP) at the SFA and MoA. Until now 20 plant
varieties were approved (1 potato, 1 lily, 1 carnation, 4
chrysanthemum, 3 African daisy and 10 rose) from the 108
applications. The rest of the requests are pending. Usually
it needs three years for a variety to get the registration. The
total applications for vegetables are 196, mostly for
watermelons, Chinese cabbage, capsicum and potato. There
are 59 registered vegetable varieties and they include
watermelon (9), Chinese cabbage (17), capsicum (6), tomato
(10), potato (5), cucumber (6), cabbage (4), and radish (2).
The total applications until April 2008 for fruits are 126,
mostly for apple, pear, grape, peach and kiwi varieties.
There are 32 registered varieties and they include pear (14),
apple (4), peach (9), kiwi (1), citrus (3) and litchi (1). During
the 11th Five-Year Plan period, the number of China's new
agricultural plants on the protection list will increase from
the current 62 to more than 100 varieties according to the
MoA. Furthermore, the general goal is to further improve
laws and regulations and related policies on the protection
of new varieties of plants. Though China is strengthening
its legal framework and IPR laws and regulations, IPR
infringements of agricultural products remain a problem.
Examples include stikering, labeling and branding domestic
and third-country products with other identifications.
Moreover, mixing of domestic and third-country products
with other identifications and unauthorized sale and use
of PVP protected plant materials (USDA, 2005). Therefore,
companies have to be keen on protecting their products.
Three methods to protect the IPR of plant products in China
are trademark, method patent and new plant variety right.
2.6 Details of relevant authorities and
organizations
Institutions for food safety:
- Ministry of Health (www.moh.gov.cn)
- Ministry of Agriculture (www.agri.gov.cn)
- State Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection
and Quarantine (www.aqsiq.gov.cn)
- State Administration for Industry and Commerce
(www.saic.gov.cn)
- State Food and Drug Administration (www.sda.gov.cn)
- State Environmental Protection Administration
(www.sepa.goc.cn)
New Plant Variety Protection:
- Ministry of Agriculture PVP office (www.cnpvp.cn)
- State Forestry Administration PVP office (www.cnpvp.net)
- Intellectual property protection (www.ipr.gov.cn)
- State intellectual property office (www.sipo.gov.cn)
Figure 2: Authorities in charge of food safety at different stages
FARM
PROCESSING
Planting, harvesting, transporting
etc. managed by MoA
Managed by AQSIQ, MOH
SFDA
RESTAURANT
Managed by MOH
MARKETING
Managed by AIC, MOH
(Source: presentation prof. Feng-Qin, National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety China)
11
Chapter 3 China's Fruit & Vegetables Industry
The fruit and vegetable markets together are the largest
sectors of the retail food market in China
(www.industrialnewsupdate.com). Moreover, China is the
largest fruit and vegetable producer with over one-third
share of total world production. Both markets developed
quickly and showed growth in area and production in the
last years. The volume output of fruit was 96.5 million tons
in 2007, while the output of vegetables is much higher, 583
million tons in 2006. Together, with the increase in output
the consumption of fruits increased as well, while the
consumption of vegetables stayed stable.
This chapter, and chapter four and five, are composed according
to the rank of links in the fruit and vegetable supply chain,
shown in figure three. The first link in the supply chain is the
agricultural input like water, seeds, fertilizer, and labor. The
concentration at the input side will be on planting seeds,
described in the next paragraph. Paragraph 3.2 and 3.3 will
explore the Chinese fruit and vegetable production. Most
Chinese prefer fresh fruit and vegetable, but processed products
are becoming popular. This will be shown in paragraph 3.4.
Before explaining how big the consumption market is and
how fruit and vegetable finds its way to the end consumer,
the transportation and storage facilities will be handled in
paragraph 3.5. Chapter four and five will address the last link
in the supply chain, namely the sales.
3.1 Planting seeds
Vegetable and fruit seeds are produced throughout China,
which enables them to be bred and marketed to suit local
preferences and requirements. Export oriented seed
production is concentrated in the eastern China provinces
Figure 3: China's fruit and vegetable supply chain
(Source: Rabobank 2006)
12
(USDA, 2005). Mainly in the province of Shandong where
also the main fruit and vegetable production takes place.
According, to the FAS USDA (2007) China is one of the largest
seed producers and 100% self sufficient in planting seeds
for the main crops, like grain, major oilseeds, and 85% self
sufficient for cottons. The rate of self-sufficiency for fruit
and vegetable is about 95%. The seed production and
marketing is fragmented and there are numerous seed
companies. Figures also show this: the 50 largest seed
producing companies had a market share around 30% in
2006 (USDA, 2007). Furthermore, developers of seed are
mostly state research institutes and universities, like the
International Agricultural New and High Technology
Industrial Park in Langfang and China's Academy of
Agriculture Science. Seed companies are responsible for
breeding and marketing, although institutes are sometimes
involved in it as well. The major seed companies posses
over their own research facilities to develop their own
varieties. Major seeds producers from the Netherlands,
Rijkzwaan, Syngenta, Nunhems, De Ruiter, Seminis, and
Bejo are represented in China. Contact details of leading
companies can be found in appendix two.
Official seed production statistics are not available, however
industry sources estimate annual seed use at 12.5 million
tons with total seed sales for the marketing year 2006 and
2007 over US $2.9 billion. Moreover, the annual commercial
seed production is estimated at 8.5 million tons (USDA,
2007). The annual seed use and commercial seed production
did not change over the last three years, while the value
increased US $0.4 billion since 2004 (USDA, 2005).
3.2 Fruit production
Since the 80's the developments of China's fruit industry
were strong after the markets and prices were liberalized.
The expanding growing area and improvement in production
had their shares for the developments in the industry
(www.seabridge.com). Like the fragmented seed production
at the input side of the supply chain, the fruit production
is even more fragmented and consists of millions of smallscale farmers, with an average acreage less than 0.5 hectare.
The fruit cultivation area in China rose from 8 million
hectares in 2002 to 10 million hectares in 2007, while output
grew from 69 million tons to 96.5 million tons over the
same years (shown in figure four).
Apples are the leading fruit produced in terms of volume.
Other commonly produced fruits are pears, citrus, peach
and banana. Apples and pears account respectively for 27%
and 13% of the total fruit output.
The main fruit production areas are located in the
northeastern and northwestern part of China (see figure
one for map of China) due to the favorable climatic
conditions there; table two gives an overview of the top
10 producing provinces. The major fruit-producing province
is Shandong with a production of 12.5 million tons in 2006
accounting for 12% of China's total fruit output.
Table 2: Top 10 fruit producing provinces in 2006
Region
Shandong
Hebei
Guangdong
Shaanxi
Guangxi
Henan
Fujian
Sichuan
Liaoning
Xinjiang
Others
Total Output
Output/tons
12,588,158
9,685,262
8,934,688
8,819,450
6,128,590
5,917,943
4,954,033
4,238,147
3,437,027
3,431,435
27,857,514
95,992,247
Main product
Apple, Peach
Pear, Apple
Citrus, Banana
Apple
Citrus, Banana
Apple, Pear
Citrus, Banana
Citrus, Pear
Apple, Pear
Grape
(Source: China Agriculture Yearbooks)
Figure 4: Hectare and output of fruits.
(Source: China Agriculture Yearbooks, FAS USDA)
Figure 5: Major fruits in 2006
Apple
Pear
Citrus
Peach
Banana
Grape
Jujube
Persimmon
Litchi
Pineapple
Other Fruits
Total output
Output/tons
26,059,298
11,986,083
178,98,328
8,214,700
6,901,249
6,270,756
3,052,860
2,320,346
1,507,978
890,701
13,288,627
95,992,247
(Source: China Agriculture Yearbooks)
13
Hard Fruits
Apple production
China is by far the world's largest apple producer: in 2007,
23 million tons of apples were produced over 1.95 million
hectares. The production has increased by 8% since 2001,
but there is a decrease of 3 million tons compared to 2006
because of the bad weather conditions. Furthermore, there
is a slight increase in the apple acreage and according to the
USDA it is driven by high prices and demand for juicing
apples. In terms of apple variety in China, Fuji is the primary
apple variety (sweet taste and crispy), accounting for about
60% of total production. Chinese consumers favor sweet and
crisp apples. Chinese consumers favor less early maturing
varieties, like the Gala apple (USDA, 2006). Other common
improved apple varieties include Delicious (Yuanshuai),
Golden Deli (Jinguan), Jiaona jin, Gala (Thornsbury and
Woods, 2007). Shandong and Shaanxi are the leading apple
production provinces, accounting for 50% of the total output.
Other large production provinces are Hebei, Shanxi, and
Henan. Most apples are for fresh domestic consumption, 4%
are for fresh export, and 26% are for processing. Besides, the
world's largest apple producer, China is also the world's top
producer of juicing apples. The Chinese government stimulates
to plant more sour apple breeds in China. The main aim for
production is for the juicing industry (Groot et al, 2004).
Pear production
Pear production in 2007 was 12 million tons over an area
of 1 million hectares. The major pear-producing province
is Hebei province with an output of 3.3 million tons.
Shandong is the second largest producing province with
an output of 1.1 million tons in 2006. In contrast to apple
production, pear production showed a slight increase over
the same period in 2006, and was less affected by the
weather. About 89% of pear production is domestically
consumed and about 3.5% of the pear production is exported
and 7.5% is processed. The pear production in 2001 was 8.8
million tons over nearly the same area as present day.
Production of different types of pears takes place throughout
China. According to Groot et al (2004) the 'white pears' are
mainly produced in northern china, and they are crispy,
juicy, and sweet of taste. The 'sand pear' or 'apple pear' is
produced along the Yang Tse river and taste similar to the
white pears. Furthermore, the 'ussurian pear' is produced
in northeastern China, but from less quality compared to
other kinds. The P. communis, the 'European pear' is scarcely
produced in China. New and early mature varieties like
Golden and Huangguan are gradually replacing traditional
Ya and Snow pears.
time the 7th fresh strawberry producer in the world. In
recent years, China has increased its production and became
the second largest strawberry producer. In 2007, 900,000
tons of strawberry were produced over 70.000 hectares and
future growth is expected. Comparable to apples and pears
the major part of the strawberries, about 75%, is consumed
fresh. Of the remaining 25% of production that is processed,
about 42% remains in China and is consumed in the form
of jams, jelly, juice, or is used in confectionary and dairy
products like yogurt. Frozen strawberry production is
forecasted at 147,000 tons in 2009 (USDA, 2008).
Stone fruit production
According to the USDA (2008) peach production is forecasted
to increase by eight percent to 8.6 million tons in 2008.
Plum production is forecasted at 2.2 million tons, up 10%
from the previous year, as earlier plantings have begun
bearing fruit and come into full production. Apricot
production is forecast at 1.7 million tons in 2008, up nearly
14% from the previous year, mainly attributed to an increase
in planted area. Cherry production is forecast at 174,000
tons in 2008, an increase of 16%, as more cherry plantings
have also reached their full production cycles. Despite
increased production, stone fruit prices are likely to remain
stable or slightly increase during 2008. The central
government has taken actions to help farmers cope with
rising production costs, especially the huge increases in
fertilizer prices. Fresh stone fruit is mainly consumed in
cities that are close to production areas. Cherries are widely
popular throughout China and consumption is increasing
rapidly (USDA, 2008).
3.3 Vegetable production
The Vegetable Basket Program (VBP), launched by the
Chinese central government in 1980's, was aimed to increase
vegetable production in China (Lui, 2004). At a later stage
(1995-2001) it shifted its aim from production to diversity
of vegetables. The latest aim of the VBP is at improving the
quality and safety. Since the VBP, the vegetable industry of
China developed rapidly. Statistics from Lui (2004) show
that the sown area in 1980 was 3.2 million ha with an output
of 80.6 million tons. In 2006 the total output of vegetable
was 583 million tons over an area of 18 million ha.
Figure 6: Hectare and output of vegetable
Soft Fruits
Strawberry production
The three provinces Hebei, Shandong and Liaoning (in
northern China) are the major strawberry-producing
provinces. These regions are the leading regions in
production because of the favorable weather conditions
for strawberry production (Carter et al, 2004). According
to an outlook report from the USDA (2004) the strawberry
production in 2002 was 750,000 tons and China was at that
14
(Source: China Agriculture Yearbooks)
The main vegetable producing provinces are concentrated
in the central and eastern part of China. The regions have
good natural conditions and well-developed facilities for
vegetable production and marketing (Lui, 2004). The two
main provinces Shandong and Hebei are also the main
production provinces for fruit.
In detail there are three major regions for vegetable
production in China (Liu, 2004) (see figure one map of China):
1) The northern region, which includes Shandong, Hebei
and Liaoning provinces. Because of its unique natural
conditions and well-developed facilities for vegetable
production and marketing, this region sells its vegetables
quite broadly to other regions and for export. In the
Shandong province there are many international vegetable
companies;
2) The southern region, which includes Guangdong, Guangxi,
Hainan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. This region has
advantages in terms of climate: it produces vegetables in
the winter for the markets in north eastern, northern and
north western China;
3) The central region, which includes Henan, Jiangsu, Hubei,
Hunan and Anhui provinces where vegetables are mainly
produced for the demand within the region and are
marketed in nearby areas in general.
The Chinese consume mainly fresh vegetables according
to Lui (2004). The major produced vegetables in terms of
volume are watermelons, cabbages, tomatoes, cucumber
and gherkins. Watermelons account for 12% of the total
output in 2005 followed by cabbages.
Tomato production
Table 3: Top 10 vegetable producing provinces in 2006
Region
Shandong
Hebei
Henan
Jiangsu
Sichuan
Hubei
Guangdong
Hunan
Guangxi
Liaoning
Others
Total Output
Output/tons
83,093,182
66,467,786
64,000,000
36,576,808
29,712,287
29,441,445
26,467,865
25,268,218
22,478,212
21,297,672
178,451,864
583,255,339
China continues to expand tomato production and
processing capacity and is world's largest tomato products
producer and exporter. China's tomato production was 25.9
million tons in 2003. According to the United States
Department of Agriculture (2007) the total tomato
production for the period July 2007 to June 2008 is forecasted
at 37.2 million tons, up from 36.5 million tons (data differs
from the Rabobank data, 31.6 million tons) in the previous
year. The main production province for tomatoes is Xinjiang.
Furthermore, about 85% of total production is for fresh use.
Processing tomato production is expected to reach 5.2
million tons (over 80% is used for paste) this year and is
expected to continue rising over the next few years due to
expanding acreage in Inner Mongolia (USDA, 2007).
(Source: China Agriculture Yearbooks)
Figure 7: Major vegetables in 2005
Major vegetables
Output/tons
Watermelons
69,315,000
Cabbages
34,101,000
Tomatoes
31,644,040
Cucumber and Gherkins
26,559,600
Onions
19,047,000
Eggplants
17,030,300
Cantaloupes & Melons
16,138,000
Chilies & Peppers, Green 12,531,000
Garlic
11,093,500
Other Vegetables
327,055,436
Total output
564,514,876
(Source: Rabobank2006, China Agriculture Yearbooks)
15
Onion production
According to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), onions are grown in at least 175 countries.
Of those countries, the leading producer is China, with 2.2
million hectares that harvested 746,000 tons of onions
(including shallot) in 2005 (FAO). Important production
provinces for onion are Shandong, Fujian, and Gansu.
Garlic production
China is by far the largest producer of garlic with approximately
accounting for over 75% of world output. According to the
Agriculture statistics of the MoA the total output of garlic was
18.3 million tons in 2006 (data differs from the Rabobank data,
11 million tons). The total output in 2003 was 15.5 million tons
and it showed a steady increase. The main producing provinces
of garlics are Shandong and Henan.
Mushroom production
In 1986, the mushroom output was 858,000 tons in China.
The outputs in more recent years, in 1990, 1997, 2000 and
2002 were 1 million tons, 3.42 million tons, 6.6 million tons
and 8.7 million tons, respectively. In 2002, China had realized
the per capita mushroom output of 6.9 kg. In 2007, the
value of Chinese mushroom production totaled about US
$9 billion, 5% higher than a year earlier. The growers
harvested about 10 million tons of mushrooms, including
wild mushroom. The most common variety is the Oyster
mushroom with an output of 3 million tons. Other common
varieties are shiitake, wood ear mushroom, white mushroom
and enokitake. A steady increase is forecasted for the Chinese
mushroom production and export for 2008 (Mushroom
business, 2007). The leading mushroom producing provinces
are Zhejiang, Fujian, Hubei, Henan, and Shandong.
Carrot production
Chinese carrot production has increased 129% between
1995 and 2005 and this increase made a large contribution
to the 46% increase in world production during this period.
World production of carrots was estimated at 24.2 million
tons from a cropped area of 1.11 million hectares in 2005
(Western Australia, FAOSTAT data, 2006). China is by far the
largest carrot producer, accounting for 34.6 per cent of
world production in 2005. The output of carrots from 2003
till 2006 was 13.1 million tons, 13.3 million tons, 13.3 million
tons, and 14.5 million tons. The main producing provinces
of carrots are Shandong and Henan.
Asparagus production
China's key asparagus production provinces are Shandong,
Shanxi, Fujian and Jiansu, which combined account for 80%
of all acreage. White asparagus accounts for around 80%
of total output, a high proportion of which is processed for
export (Worldgrower, 2006). Green asparagus accounts for
about 20% of total production, and 2/3 of green asparagus
16
is for domestic fresh consumption. Post forecasts the share
of green asparagus will increase steadily within the next
three years driven by the demand from both international
and local markets (USDA, 2006). Moreover, asparagus is a
labor-intensive crop while China is a low-price producer
because of its comparative advantage in labor. Low prices
make China's asparagus highly competitive in international
markets despite its comparatively low quality. According
to the data of FAS/USDA the production of asparagus was
587,500 tons in 2004. A year later the production dropped
around 150,000 tons because of land constraints and
weather. China's production is estimated to recover to
500,000 tons in 2007 (USDA, 2008)
3.4 Processing
The perishable nature of fruits and vegetables requires
consumption soon after production. A climate controlled
post harvest chain increases the shelf life of fresh fruit and
vegetable, but available storage facilities in China are very
poor and can only accommodate 15% of total production
(USDA, 2007). Processing provides a longer shelf life. Another
aim of processing is to prepare fruit and vegetable as a
ready-to-use ingredient in the food-processing and beverage
industries. Processing methods are drying, salting, pickling,
sweetening, canning in tins and glass jars and deep freezing.
Dried and frozen fruit, dried vegetables, fruit juice
concentrates and preserved fruit and vegetable are mainly
used as ingredients for the food processing industry
(Wijnands et al, 2006).
Rapid economic growth combined with higher disposable
income means stronger demand for high quality processed
food by Chinese consumers. According to the USDA (2006)
only about 30% of food in China is processed, compared
to about 80% in western nations. While most consumers
still prefer to purchase fresh foods, the market for processed
food is growing in China, especially in urban areas. China's
current sales of packaged food is nearly 4% of the world
market and is estimated that in 2009 it will rise to more
than 5% with a value of over US $71.9 billion (USDA, 2006).
Fruit and vegetable juice
The fruit and vegetable juices are showing great potential.
There is much demand in urban markets, which drives the
growth in fruit and vegetable juice. The sales of 100% juice
is increasing rapidly, however the juice drinks up to 24%
juice rate have the largest share (Euromonitor, 2008). The
majority of fruit and vegetable juice products are economy
brands, because pricing is an important factor in the
consumers purchasing decision. Furthermore, leading
retailers, such as Carrefour, are launching private labels.
They sell their products at similar prices to branded products.
An overview of the brand shares of fruit and vegetable
juices is given in table four.
Table 4: Brand Shares of Fruit/Vegetable Juice by Off-trade Volume 2004-2007
% Off-trade volume
Hui Yuan
Minute Maid
President
Master Kong
Wahaha
Company
Beijing Hui Yuan Beverage & Food Group Corp
Coca-Cola China Ltd
President Enterprises (China) Investment Co Ltd
Ting Hsin International Group
Hangzhou Wahaha Group
2004
10.0
0.7
6.5
6.4
4.2
2005
9.8
3.0
6.8
6.4
4.5
2006
10.4
7.0
6.8
6.5
5.0
2007
10.6
8.4
6.9
6.9
5.3
(Source: Euromonitor)
The total off-trade consumption (fruit and vegetable juice
sold in retail shops, and consumed off the premises) volume
sales of fruit and vegetable juice increased from 3,210
million liters in 2002 to 9,687 million litters in 2007
(Euromonitor, 2008). The total volume sales increased by
18% and total value sales increased 17%, reaching 76,154
million RMB, in 2007. Euromonitor is forecasting that the
volume sales and value sales will double within 5 years.
Orange is the most favored flavor in fruit and vegetable
juice, followed by apple. However, orange juice is favored
most in China, the orange juice production is very low. The
orange juice production is estimated at 20.000 tons for this
year (USDA, 2008). On other hand the production of
concentrated apple juice (CAJ) has almost doubled in the
last three years. The production in 2005 was 540,000 tons
and last year it reached 1,000,000 tons. The province Shaanxi
is the top producing of CAJ with a volume share accounting
for 37%, followed by the province Shandong with a share
of 19% (USDA, 2006).
Canned fruit and vegetables
Due to the lack of innovation in canned/preserved food,
the sector is not developing at a fast rate (Euromonitor,
2008). According to the USDA (2007) fruit canning is small
and one of the least profitable sectors in the Chinese canning
industry. Moreover, Euromonitor (2007) forecast a total
decline around 8% in domestic sales volume and value for
the next four years. However, the production is mainly
driven by world demand, which is increasing. Therefore,
China exports most of the canned fruit it produces, except
for yellow peaches, which also have a domestic market.
Chinese consumers believe fresh fruits and vegetable are
healthier and therefore canned fruits and vegetables face
strong competition. Moreover, fresh fruits and vegetables
are more affordable. The main canned fruit products are
canned peach, canned pear, canned apricots, and canned
mixed fruit. The canned peach production was 310,000 tons
in 2003 and forecasted at 269,000 tons in 2007 (USDA, 2007).
Canned pears are forecast to reach 64,000 tons in 2007 up
59% from 2003. Canned apricots and canned mixed fruit
are forecasted at 13,500 tons and 33,000 tons in 2007, up
31% and 19% respectively from 2003 (USDA, 2007, 2005).
The sales value of canned fruit in 2007 was RMB 4,308
million, down from RMB 4,742 million in 2002.
In contrast to the canned fruit domestic sales volume and
value, Euromonitor forecast total growth of 28% in the next
four years for the canned vegetable sector. The sales value
of canned vegetable in 2007 was RMB 468 million, up from
RMB 384 million in 2002 (Euromonitor, 2008). The main
canned vegetable products are canned mushrooms, canned
asparagus, and canned tomatoes (Wijnands et al, 2006).
Canned Mushroom
The volume of domestic consumption of canned mushroom
is different to Europe and the US. As said before Chinese
prefer fresh products and therefore most canned mushrooms
are for the export market. However, in recent years, some
canned mushrooms have sold well, the Bailinggu is an
example. Exact data on canned mushroom production is
not available. However, export figures for canned mushrooms
are available in chapter five.
Tomato paste
Fresh tomato production for processing is expected to reach
5.2 million tons in 2008 and is expected to continue rising
over the next few yeas due to expanding acreage in Inner
Mongolia (USDA, 2007). Over 80% of fresh tomatoes for
processing is used for paste, and the paste production is
estimated to reach 750,000 tons this year (USDA, 2007). Like
other canned or processed products the production is export
driven. Furthermore, the Chinese government encourages
the development of the tomato processing industry through
favorable taxes.
Frozen vegetables
According to Euromonitor the frozen processed vegetables
market in China remains negligible. Although, other frozen
processed food, for example frozen meat, and frozen dessert,
are growing quickly. Apart from the main cities frozen
processed vegetables are rarely found in small cities or rural
areas. Frozen processed vegetable is much more expensive
than fresh vegetables and Chinese perceive that it is not
healthy to cook frozen vegetables. For the present frozen
vegetables are mainly sold in modern supermarkets and
hypermarkets. Exact production figures are not available
but trade data will be handled in chapter five.
3.5 Logistics & Storage
Agricultural products are losing heavily during the process
of logistics and the loss rate of fruit and vegetable is 20%
(Fruittimes, 2008). China's rapid growth has placed increased
pressure on the country's logistics and distribution structures.
While the Chinese government has made efforts in
upgrading its existing transportation infrastructure over
the past decade, its logistic and distribution sector stays
fragmented. Furthermore its warehousing and other storage
facilities are underdeveloped, despite this they are critical
to an efficient marketing system. The country's logistic
system is underdeveloped due to three main reasons. First
17
of all, the Chinese landscape is characterized by large
mountain areas, altitude differences, desert sand, and some
regions suffer from seasonal flooding. Next, China's
transportation networks are heavily fragmented due to
regulatory barriers that hinder consolidation. Local
governments are known to protect its local transportation
companies by raising barriers, which includes license
requirements, fees, and inspections. Lastly, the country's
logistics capabilities are greatly restricted due to inferior
equipment, which is geared towards the movement of bulk
commodities, and workers who are often not well trained
in handling goods (USDA, 2003, Poon, 2006).
With China's growing consumption of high-value frozen
and perishable foods, cold warehousing and transport
facilities are becoming an important link in the country's
marketing chain. Many cold storage facilities have been
built but not in the same pace as the developments of the
18
fruit and vegetable industry. Available cold storage facilities
can accommodate only 15% of production, leaving 85% of
the harvest to be disposed within a short period (USDA,
2007). A lack of cold chain facilities is hampering food and
drink multinationals from expanding into China's secondtier and third-tier cities, the sites of strong future growth
(www.ap-foodtechnology.com). Moreover, imported chilled
products can only reach the biggest cities like Beijing,
Shanghai and Guangzhou, which are close to ports. It is
common to see perishable high-priced fruit placed outside
of temperature controlled areas because of lack of awareness
or lack of cold storage all along the supply chain from
importers to wholesale and retailers (USDA, 2007). Although
there is room for improvement of cold chains, road transport
and port handling, the system for export is well developed
(World Bank, 2006). Nowadays, more major enterprises in
the fruit and vegetable production, processing or retail set
up their own logistic and storage facilities.
Chapter 4 Market and chain characteristics
4.1 Fruit and Vegetable consumption
China's national income has risen along with its economic
growth and more people are able to buy more fruit and
vegetables. It is not only about the quantity, Chinese
consumers are also demanding greater quality, convenience,
and safety in the food they consume and are willing to pay
modest premiums for food with safety-related certifications
(Gale, 2006, 2007). Consumers tend to diversify their food
purchases to include more poultry, fish, dairy, fruit, and
beverages, while purchases of rice, flour, pork, and vegetable
remain about the same (Gale and Huan, 2007). Moreover,
the popularity of tropical fruits has grown, for example
bananas can be found in markets, fruit stalls, supermarkets
and hypermarkets throughout the country (USDA, 2006).
Table five gives a statistical overview of the per capita
consumption of fruit and vegetables by urban and rural
households. Total consumption of fruit by urban households
and rural households is respectively 60 kg and 19 kg. And
consumption of fruit is respectively 117 kg and 100 kg.
Looking to table five the following trends can be seen; first
of all, the per capita consumption by urban households is
higher for both fruit and vegetable. The main reason for
this is the higher incomes of urban households. Urban
people have spent about 35% of their total income on food
in 2006, which is 3111 RMB. Rural households have spent
significantly less on food, 1217 RMB in 2006. A study done
by Hsu et al. (2002) shows that increases in income
significantly affects the purchase of fruit and vegetables.
Furthermore, the study shows that price changes also have
an important effect on food demand. Chinese consumers
are sensitive to price changes, and more sensitive to price
changes of fruit than vegetables. Higher food prices have
been the trends last couple of years. At the moment the
prices of food are rising and according to the National
Bureau of Statistics the consumer price index (CPI) grew
eight percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the
first quarter of 2007. The CPI of vegetables grew dramatically
with 23% in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the same
period last year, and the CPI of fruits rose by 8.5%. The
higher food prices will mainly have an impact on people
with low incomes as they are most influenced by price
changes.
Secondly, the consumption of vegetables by rural households
dropped from 104 kg to 100 kg, while the consumption by
urban households increased with 1.1 kg, from 116.5 kg to
117.6 kg. When looking further back in time China's per
capita consumption of vegetables was much higher than
nowadays. According to Lui (2004) the consumption was
124 kg for rural households and 152 kg for urban households
in 1981. Lui (2004) gives three reasons for the decrease in
consumption of vegetables: people in northern China have
started to consume more fine vegetables; people in southern
China consume more aquatic products as a substitute for
vegetables and an increase in fruit consumption has reduced
vegetable consumption.
The third trend is that the per capita consumption of fruits
for both urban and rural households increased respectively
73.3% and 68% from 1995 to 2006.
4.2 Market segments
The authors of The World Bank report on China (2006)
divided the production and supply of the fruits and vegetable
market into three segments. These market segments are
(a) the traditional local fruit and vegetable markets, (b)
markets in industrial countries, and (c) the emerging modern
urban domestic markets.
A: Traditional local fruit and vegetable markets segment
More than 90% of the volume of fruit and vegetables in
China is produced for traditional local markets. These market
consist of millions of small-scale farmers, who have on
average less than 0.5 ha of land and is highly fragmented.
The small-scale farmers are specialized in certain products,
and their products are collected by traders and transported
large distances to serve urban demand (World Bank, 2006).
The farmers also sell directly to local urban and rural markets
(often called wet markets), including restaurants, street
markets, or grocery stores. Wet markets can be defined as
a place where local farmers supply products direct from the
Table 5: Consumption of fruit and vegetables
Per Capita Consumption of Major Foods by Urban Households
Fresh Vegetables (kg)
Fresh Fruits (kg)
Per Capita Consumption of Major Foods by Rural Households
Fresh Vegetables (kg)
Fruits and processed products (kg)
1995
1999
2000
2005
2006
116.47
44.96
114.94
54.21
114.74
57.48
118.58
56.69
117.56
60.17
106.74
18.31
102.28
17.18
100.53
19.09
104.62
13.01
(Source: Statistical yearbook 2007)
19
field to the end consumer. A prediction by the World Bank
is that the traditional market will remain the biggest domestic
supplier for many years to come. Today, many wet markets
in big cities are being closed or consolidated since local
authorities in most cities view the markets as unsanitary
(Poon, 2006).
B: Emerging modern urban domestic markets segments
Chinese consumers are increasingly shopping in
supermarkets and convenience stores that carry processed,
prepared, packaged, and frozen foods. Outlets that did not
exist in China until the early 1990s. Since China's easing of
restrictions on retailing in 2004, international hypermarket
retailers initially made full use of the opportunities available
to expand into first-tier cities such as Shanghai, Beijing,
Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Now attention has shifted to
lower-tier cities, due to the increasingly saturated
environment for retail outlets in first-tier cities (Euromonitor,
2008). The hypermarkets still face a lot of competition from
the wet markets and the World Bank (2006) reported that
the fruit and vegetable section in supermarkets and
hypermarkets are not very profitable. According to Woods
(2007) the main reasons are the difficulties of quality and
safety control of fresh fruits and vegetables, short shelf life
and higher prices. However, a sales growth of 30-40 % per
year is expected (Woods, 2007).
C: Export markets in industrial countries
At present, the export market segment probably constitutes
not more than two percent of the volume of fresh production
of fruit and vegetables, and perhaps twice this share in
value added (World Bank, 2006). Further growth of Chinese
exports will depend on improvement of technology, quality,
and safety, as well as broadening the assortment and supply
base in China to meet opportunities and requirements in
different export markets. The international trade of China's
fruit and vegetable is broadly shown in chapter five.
4.3 Fruit and Vegetable supply chain
The Chinese fruit and vegetable supply chain model is shown
in figure three, chapter three. In the previous chapters different
themes passed the revue. In this paragraph the fruit and
vegetable supply chain will be described on the basis of the
classification made by the World Bank, table seven.
Supply chain of the traditional local fruit and
vegetable markets
The supply chain of traditional markets can be characterized,
as an open supply chain that is supply driven. There are
hardly any contractual relations and little trust between
buyers and sellers. Most fruit and vegetables are marketed
in nearby areas. Wholesalers and processing companies
normally purchase fruit at farms, sort and pack them in
baskets or cartons and deliver them to nearby wholesale
markets. From there they are distributed to retailers. Some
farmers collectively rent trucks and deliver their fruit to
wholesale markets directly. Competitiveness depends mainly
on supply at low cost and there are no constraints for
participation of small-scale producers.
Supply chain of the emerging modern urban domestic
markets
The modern domestic markets are characterized by emerging
constraints for producers in meeting requirements of quality
and safety, regular supply, tighter supply chain, and trust
between sellers and buyers.
Table 6: Top 10 retailers
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Company
Shanghai Brilliance Group
Dalian Dashang Group
Carrefour
Beijing Hualian Group
China Resource Suguo
Shanghai Nonggongshang
Wu Mart
Trustmart
China Resource Vanguard
Xinyijia
(Source: Rabobank 2006)
20
The supply chain of emerging supermarkets and
hypermarkets is a mix between an open supply chain and
a coordinated supply chain. The characteristics of coordinated
supply chains are durable arrangements among producers,
processors, and buyers about what and how much to
produce, time of delivery, quality and safety conditions,
and price. These chains often involve exchange of
information and sometimes assistance with technology and
Revenue EURO (mln)
6,241
2,203
1,499
1,476
1,281
1,265
1,225
1,107
1,016
0,784
No. of Outlets
5,493
120
62
70
1,345
1,232
608
88
476
58
finance. The chain is usually initiated by large producers
or buyers and sometimes producer organizations, which
also act as chain leaders. Farmers act as the fruit and
vegetable supplier, and the company provides farmers with
the pre and post-harvest support services. Output quality
of products at the coordinated supply chain is most times
better than output of the open supply chain. The potential
role of the producer cooperatives are: economies of scale,
finding and developing markets, and scaling-up volume
with consistent quality. Participation of small-case farmers
depends on meeting requirements of quality, safety,
consistency of product, and regular supply of products.
Supply chain export markets in industrial countries
The supply chain of the export market is a mix of coordinated
supply chain and a full-integrated supply chain. Companies
in full-integrated supply chain perform all activities from
production to processing to wholesaling without partnering
with other entities. The supply chain of export markets is
strongly demand driven where relations within the chain are
important and durable. Moreover, cooperation among buyers,
exporters, and growers are normal. They share information
and sometimes there is a financial cooperation. Furthermore,
there is a high food safety concern in the supply chain and
the chain leader is the processing company or exporter.
Competitiveness depends mainly on large quantities, flexible
response to changing demand and market and product
innovations. Small-scale farmers can participate only if they
are well organized in out-grower schemes and are able to
guarantee safety and uniform quality.
Exporters and processors for export markets more and more
organize their own supply rather than buying at traditional
wholesale markets. They organize their supply under strong
supervision by the China Entry/Exit Inspection and
Quarantine Bureau (CIQ). The requirements of quality, safety,
volume, consistency and delivery schedules are high.
Increasingly, buyers require tracking and tracing of food
safety throughout the supply chain with independent
certification. As a result of these trends, coordinated and
integrated supply chains have become the dominant
institution in sourcing perishable products.
Table 7: Characteristics of three types of markets
Type of market
Traditional local fruit and vegetable
Emerging modern urban domestic markets
Export markets in industrial countries
Market
markets
(supermarkets, tourist hotels/restaurants,
(retail markets, modern food services)
Characteristics
educated affluent consumers)
Participation
Participation of small-scale
No constraints
producers
Emerging constraints in meeting
Only if well organized in out-grower
requirements of quality, safety, consistency
schemes and able to guarantee safety and
of product, regular supply
uniform quality
Large producer or buyer, sometimes
Processing company or exporter;
producer organization
sometimes importer on behalf of retailer;
Organization
Chain leader/ coordinator
Usually none
rarely the retailer directly
Potential role of producer
Countervailing power, economies of scale
Economies of scale, finding and developing
Reduce transaction and information costs
cooperative
in acquiring inputs and market access
markets, scaling-up volume with consistent
in supply chain; trust-worthy partner for
quality
planning and coordination
Supply-driven
Efforts by retailers to control quality, safety,
Strongly demand driven
Transaction-based
and reliability of supply
Durable relations within supply chain, often
Little or no net benefit from coordination
Net financial benefits from coordination
on contractual basis
Little durability in relation among private
still fragile
Cooperation among buyers, exporters,
actors
Emerging coordination, occasional
growers on technology, information,
No technical cooperation
technical support
sometimes finance
Not very important
Of emerging importance
Crucial factor for long-term successful
Supply-chain organization
Trust between buyers and sellers
relations
Results
Competitiveness depends
Supply at low cost
mainly on
Sufficient quantity
Large quantity
Improved quality
Efficient, effective coordinated supply
chains
Flexible response to changing demand
Market and product innovation
Price level for grower and
Relatively low Limited willingness to pay
Moderate
Relatively high
consumer
for quality and safety
Moderate willingness to pay for quality
High willingness to pay for quality and
and safety
safety
Value added
Very low
Low/moderate
Moderate/high
Standardization, grading, supply
Virtually absent
Emerging importance of grading, stable
High requirements of grading, consistency,
Irregular supply
supply
supply schedule
Unreliable
Improving
Effective
Little consumer awareness, concern
Emerging consumer awareness, concern
High consumer concern
Little private effort, limited government
Retailers try to control and sell "safety"
High retailer requirements imposed on
Food safety control
control
suppliers
(Source: World Bank 2006)
21
Chapter 5 China's Fruit and Vegetables trade
Trade has been one of the key drivers of economic growth
since China joined the WTO in 2001. Since 2004 China is the
third largest trader after the EU and the US (www.ec.europa.
eu). Before 1979 China's foreign trade was exclusively
conducted through national foreign trade corporations
under import and export plans assigned by the former
Ministry of Foreign Trade. With the adoption of the "open
door" policy in 1979 China began to reform its foreign trade
sector, very gradually decentralizing and deregulating control
over its foreign trade. With its WTO accession, China is
revising many of the laws governing foreign trade to honor
commitments made under the WTO protocol. At present,
the authorities in charge of imports and exports in China
include the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the General
Administration of Customs, the State Administration of
Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the State Exit and Entrance
Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (SEEIQB) and the
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine (AQSIQ) (www.cbbc.org). In the last paragraph
of this chapter more information about import & export
regulations and phytosanitary requirements are highlighted.
China's import and export value of agricultural products
reached US $78.1 billion in 2007, up 23% from a year ago
(MoA). The total export value of agricultural products was
US $37.01 billion, and import reached US $41.09 billion.
China's agricultural trade is concentrated in the eastern
region. The provinces Shandong, Guandong and Liaoning
are the leading provinces in the export of agricultural
products, with a value of US $9.9 billion, US $4.1 billion,
and US $3 billion respectively. The major importers of
agricultural products are the provinces Jiangsu for US $7.86
billion, Guangdong for US $7.61 billion, and Shandong for
US $7.13 billion.
The fruit and vegetable import and export have been
increasing over the last 5 years. China's fruit and vegetable
Figure 8: China's planting seeds imports and exports
(Source: FAS USDA, 2008)
22
export grew tremendously from US $5.45 billion in 2004 to
US $9.96 billion in 2007. The import of fruit and vegetables
over the same period, US $682 million in 2004 and US $1.07
billion in 2007, is less spectacular.
Before going into the details of the Chinese fruit and
vegetable trade the trade in planting seeds will be
highlighted.
5.1 China's planting seeds import and
export trade
Vegetable seeds are the largest category, accounting for
over 40% of the total value of seed imports, which was US
$122 million in 2007. Fruit seeds account for about 5%, with
a value of US $6.3 million, of the total value of seed import.
The import of fruit seeds, in both volume and value has
been steady over the last few years and will continue
growing. The United States and Australia took Taiwan over
as the largest supplier of fruit seeds in volume in recent
years. In 2007 the import volume reached 1.2 million tons.
Japan continued to be the largest supplier of vegetable
seeds to China with a total export value of US $15.6 million
in 2007, up from US $14 million in 2006. However, Thailand
has ranked as the highest in export volume for the past
three years. Other main countries that export vegetable
seeds to China are Denmark, Australia, and the United
States. In 2007 the imports of vegetable seeds slightly
decreased in volume, but not in value, because of
government support to plant trees and grasses (USDA, 2007).
In the same year the value was US $53 million, and the
import volume reached 5.5 million. Industry experts believe
vegetable seed imports will recover and continue growing,
driven by strong growth of exports of vegetable products
(USDA, 2007). Moreover, they expect growth in popular
varieties like onions, asparagus, squash, eggplant, and
tomato.
On the export side vegetable seeds are also ranked as the
largest category. They accounted for over 45% of the total
value of seed exports, with a value of US $40 million in 2007.
Moreover, the export and import show similar trends, decline
in volume and increase in value. However, the import of
vegetable seeds is higher in both volume and value.
The total volume of vegetable seeds exported reached 4.5
million in 2007. The three largest export markets for Chinese
seeds in value are the United States, South Korea, and the
Netherlands. However, South Korea ranked first in volume.
The Netherlands imported 450,239 kg in 2007, worth US $5.7
million. Strong exports reflect China's price advantage in
seed breeding whether these are imported (for re-export)
or new domestic varieties (USDA, 2007).
Export of fruit seeds ranked third of the total seeds export in
value last year. The export reached a volume of 975,105, with
a value of US $9 million. The major destinations are South
Korea, Japan, and the Netherlands with a volume of 375
thousand, 294 thousand, and 45 thousand kg respectively.
5.2 China's fruit import and export trade
According to the statistics of the MoA, China's fruit import
and export reached a surplus of US $2.8 billion in 2007, an
increase of 163% compared to 2004. The total fruit export
(including fresh and frozen fruit, fruit juice, canned fruits,
and other processed fruit) grew from US $1.65 in 2004 to US
$3.75 billion in 2007. The export volume of fruit was 4.8
million tons last year.
5.2.1 Fruit exports
China exported a total of 4.8 million tons of fruit products
in 2007, up from 3.7 million tons in 2006. The main varieties
within the exported fruit products are fresh apples, fruit
juice and citrus and they count for nearly 50% of the total
export. China exported for 738,000 tons of fruit juice in
2006 and it accounts for nearly 20% of the fruit export. Fruit
juice is the fastest growing product group within the fruit
export, output in volume grew 300,000 tons in four years.
Figure 9: Chinese fruit imports and exports 2004-2007
(Source: Ministry of Agriculture)
Figure 10: Chinese fruit exports by product group
(Source: Ministry of Agriculture)
23
Figure 11: China fresh fruit exports
(Source: Global Trade Atlas, www.seekingalpha.com)
China is the number one apple producer in the world, and
apples are the country's leading export item. Followed by
pears, mandarins and all other fresh fruit. The major export
markets for fruit (including fresh and frozen fruit, fruit juice,
canned fruits, and other processed fruit) are the United
States (657,000 tons), Japan (380,000 tons), Russia (507,400
tons), the Netherlands (250,000 tons), and Germany (191,000
tons). These countries have been the major export markets
for several years.
5.2.2 Fruit imports
In 2007, China imported a total of US $1 billion worth of
fruits, increasing US $100 million annually since 2004. China's
fruit import is more diversified and exotic fruits are
consumed more and more by Chinese consumers. The main
imported fruits are bananas (298,900 tons), kiwifruit (115,500
tons), oranges (71,500 tons), citrus juice (56,800 tons), and
grapes (41,900 tons) .
Thailand is the largest fruit exporter to China, other main
countries include, the United States, the Philippines, Vietnam,
Brazil and Chile. Fruits from Southeast Asian have achieved
greater access to the Chinese market since China signed
the free trade agreement (FTA) with the Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Table 8: Chinese fruit imports origin in 2006
Countries
Thailand
The United States
The Philippines
Vietnam
Brazil
Chili
Million USD
175
124
115
81
59
55
(Source: Chinese Ministry of Agriculture 2006)
24
Volume/tons
258,000
124,700
352,800
314,400
44,700
44,800
Import in 2006 from the United States grew around 14%
in both value and volume compared to the year 2005.
Outstanding from the rest are the imports from Vietnam,
which had an increase of 24.6% in volume and an even
more remarkable increase of 72% in value over the years
2006 and 2005. The product range included durian, orange,
dried litchi and banana (www.freshplaza.com). A marginal
comment is that Chinese statistics are not always accurate,
because a large volume of imported fruits that enter China
from Hong Kong are re-exported to Mainland China trough
gray channels (Bin and Jiang, 2004).
5.2.3 Fruit import and export provinces
The five main fruit exporting provinces in 2006 were
Shandong (US $835 million), Shaanxi (US $297 million),
Zhejiang (US $229 million), Guandong (US $154 million),
and Fujian (US $153 million). Shandong is the leading food
supplier to mainland China, but is also the largest fruit
export base and ranked 7 years in a row as the number one
export province (USDA, 2008). Besides, the largest export
base, Shandong is the largest food processing and
manufacturing base, with a total of, 446 food processors
and 945 food manufacturers in 2006 (USDA, 2008). Major
cities include Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai and Rizhao
with Qingdao and Yantai as the two largest port cities in
Shandong.
Much imported fruit products enter China via southern
Guangdong province. The Nanhai Lishui fruit wholesale
market in Guangdong is the largest fruit wholesale market
in China (Bin and Jiang, 2004). Other main import bases for
fruit are the provinces Guangxi, Hebei, Liaoning, and the
cities Beijing and Shanghai (Rabobank, 2006)
Figure 12: Fruit import and export provinces
(Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Rabobank 2006)
5.2.4 Fruit items
Fresh apple trade
World apple trade is dominated by four major players: the
EU-27, China, Chile, and the United States. The EU is the
largest exporter in terms of volume followed by China. In
value terms the United States is the largest exporter followed
by the EU and China. Chinese exports of fresh apples are
mainly to Asian countries. Russia is the top importer (141,232
tons in 2006), followed by Indonesia, the Philippines,
Vietnam, and Thailand. The total exports of apples reached
804,318 tons in 2006, down from 823,988 tons in 2005. From
the year 2002 the exports of apples grew rapidly. Export in
2002 was 438,738 tons. However, the current export is likely
to slow down because of the tightened supplies, higher
prices and stringent control over exported fruit. The AQSIQ
requires that all exported fruit is sourced from registered
orchards and packing houses (USDA, 2008).
China's imports of apples are mainly from Chile and the United
States. The total imports of apples in 2005 and 2006 were
respectively 33,204 tons and 31,074 tons. It is expected that
apple imports by China will increase to 50,000 tons, because
of the decrease in domestic production in 2007 (USDA, 2008).
Fresh pear trade
The world trade of fresh pears is dominated by Argentina
and China on the export side and Russia and the EU on the
import side (USDA, 2008). China's main export market for
fresh pears are Indonesia, Russia, Malaysia, Hong Kong,
Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and the Netherlands. The
total export of fresh pears grew less rapidly compared to
the export of apples. The exports of pears grew from 273,000
tons in 2003 to 420,000 tons in 2007. The pear exports are
expected to continue growing, but main export markets
will remain in Southeast Asia, because Asian pears are not
traditionally favored by western consumers. Chinese imports
of pears are marginal and therefore negligible (USDA, 2008).
Strawberry trade
Most frozen strawberries produced in China are processed for
export. China's frozen exports are forecast to increase to
130,000 tons in 2008. The export in 2007 was 120,000 tons.
The Netherlands is the largest market for China's frozen
strawberries, accounting for 28% of China's total exports in
2007. The European Union as a whole accounted 44% of all
exports in 2007. Japan is the second largest market accounting
for 11% of total exports. The exports of fresh strawberries are
very limited due to high costs of exporting perishable fruit.
Main export countries for fresh strawberries are Asian countries,
including Russia and Hong Kong (USDA, 2008).
China does not grant market access for imports of fresh
strawberries. In 2008, frozen strawberries imports are
expected to increase to 18,000 tons, up from 15,000 tons
in 2007. The majority of China's frozen strawberries are
imported for processing and re-export. In 2007 Morocco
and Chili represented 75% of all imports (USDA, 2008).
Stone fruit trade
China exported a record of 24,386 tons of fresh peaches
and nectarines in 2007, up from 20,196 tons in 2006. Russia,
Vietnam and Hong Kong are expected to remain the top
buyers of Chinese peaches. The export of fresh plums was
6,195 tons in 2006, down from 7,451 tons in 2005. The export
of in 2007 recovered and reached, 7,328 tons, about the
same level as in 2005 due to a much larger crop. Russia,
Vietnam, and Hong Kong were the main countries for export.
The imports of plums exceed the exports, mainly imported
from the countries Chile and New Zealand. Plum imports
from Chile in 2007 jumped to 8,240 tons from zero after the
Free Trade Agreements between these countries. Import
totalled at 10,824 tons in 2007. Russia is the main buyer of
Chinese apricots, about 95% of total export, with volume
increasing quickly. Chinese apricot exports were 3078 tons
in 2007, up 45% from 2005. China's cherry exports are very
25
limited, because it is mainly domestically consumed. Export
was only 57 tons last year, while import was 611 tons, mainly
from the United States and Chile.
The export volume of stone fruits is expected to continue
growing because of overall production increases and
improved fruit quality. However, a factor limiting stone fruit
export is the short shelf life. Therefore, China's exports of
peaches, plums, and apricots are concentrated in the harvest
season between June and September (USDA, 2008).
Apple Juice
More than 90% of concentrated apple juice in China is exported,
and it makes China the leading apple juice exporter in the
world. Exports are mainly to the United States, the EU, Russia,
Japan, and Australia. Foreign apple juice producers and
exporters face fierce competition and lose export markets to
China. The exports of concentrated apple juice increased from
613,766 tons to 930,000 tons in the last three years. The
Netherlands imported 82,532 tons in 2006, up from 73,430
tons in 2005. China's imports of apples juice are negligible,
only 354 tons in 2007 (USDA, 2007). The leading juicing
companies in China can be found in appendix two.
5.3 China's vegetable import and export
trade
The Chinese vegetable import and export reached a surplus
of more than US $6 billion in 2007, up from 5.3 billion in
2006. China is one of the top exporters in vegetables in the
global market, while imports are very limited. For example,
in 2007 the value of import accounted for only 1.8% of the
value export. The imports of vegetables consist mainly of
foreign varieties and processed vegetables to meet the
demand of international tourism, but also the rising demand
for more food varieties by Chinese consumers (Lui, 2004).
5.3.1 Vegetable exports
China exported 8.1 million tons of vegetables (including
fresh and frozen vegetables, preserved vegetables, and
dehydrated vegetables). In 2007, the export was valued at
US $6.2 billion. In 2004, the export volume was 6.2 million
tons, valued at US $3.8 billion. Over the years 2004-2007
the value grew more rapidly compared to the volume.
Processed products, preserved and frozen vegetables are
the main exported products and they compete with other
processed fruit exporters like the Netherlands, Belgium, the
United States, Canada, and Brazil. The Chinese exports in
2006 by volume of fresh & frozen, preserved, and dehydrated
vegetables are 4.3 million tons, 2.5 million tons, and 380
thousand tons respectively.
Currently, the main items within the processed products
category are tomato paste, canned mushrooms, frozen
vegetables and dehydrated vegetables.
Around half of fresh vegetable exports, in value, are now
accounted by garlic, mushrooms and truffles. Other
vegetables include carrots, onions, radishes and turnips.
Garlic is an important export product for China and one of
the country's leading export items.
Figure 13: Chinese vegetables imports and exports 2004-2007
(Source: Ministry of Agriculture)
Figure 14: Chinese vegetable exports by product group
(Source: Ministry of Agriculture)
26
Figure 15: China's exports of processed vegetables
(Source: Global Trade Atlas, www.seekingalpha.com)
Figure 16: China's fresh vegetable exports
(Source: Global Trade Atlas, www.seekingalpha.com)
Figure 17: China's vegetable export destinations
(Source: Global Trade Atlas, FAS/USDA)
China's vegetable export markets are concentrated mainly
in Asia. Among them Japan is the main export market for
vegetables. In 2006, Japan imported 1.6 million tons of
vegetables around a quarter of China's total export (MoA).
Moreover, its share in value is around a third looking to
figure 17 (statistics are drawn from FAS/USDA and total
value differ from the MoA statistics). Other important
markets for Chinese vegetables are the ASEAN countries,
the United States, South Korea, Russia, and Germany.
According to the MoA the ASEAN countries imported 1.6
million tons of vegetables worth US $800 million in 2006,
main exports where to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Furthermore, South Korea, Russia, and the United States
imported a volume of 721,300 tons, 589,800 tons, and
400,700 tons respectively in 2006. The largest importers
from Europe are the Netherlands and Germany (Lui, 2004).
For China's vegetable export, different forms of vegetables
have different export markets. Fresh vegetables are mainly
exported to Japan, Korea, Singapore, The USA, and the
Middle East. Some special vegetables (e.g. ginger) are mainly
exported to the UK, Australia and France. Pickled vegetables
are mainly exported to Japan, Korea, the USA and Singapore.
Dried vegetables are mainly marketed to western Europe,
27
Japan, the USA, Australia, Korea, and Singapore. Canned
vegetables are mainly exported to western Europe, the USA,
Japan and Korea. Frozen vegetables are mainly exported
to Japan, Korea, the USA, western Europe, New Zealand
and Australia (Liu, 2004).
of the Chinese diet. The major imports by product are
asparagus, cabbages, cauliflower, manioc, arrowroot, and
sweet potatoes (mainly French fries), beans, pumpkins,
chilies & peppers, yams, and bamboo (Rabobank, 2006;
Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture).
5.3.2 Vegetable imports
5.3.3 Vegetable import and export provinces
The main provinces were the export of vegetables takes
place are Shandong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, and
Guandong. The Shandong province is by far the leading
vegetable exporter (also for fruit) and its exports were
around US $1.8 billion, accounting for 36% of the total
export. The values of the remaining provinces are: Fujian
(US $800 million), Zhejiang (US $380 million), Jiangsu (US
$300 million), Xinjiang (US $218 million), and Guandong
(US $240 million).
The regions that import vegetables are located at the east
coast. The Guangdong province is an important region were
vegetables enter China. It accounts for about a third of the
total vegetable imports. Other important regions were
vegetables are imported are the provinces Shandong and
Fujian, and the municipality Shanghai.
China's import of vegetables is very limited compared to
its export. According to the MoA China imported vegetables
were worth US $110 million in 2006. Statistics drawn from
the FAS/USDA show different figures (US $720 million), but
they give a good insight, from which countries China imports
vegetables. Although the imports are lower compared to
the exports, China's vegetables imports increased
considerably looking at figure 18. Thailand and Vietnam
have been China's main suppliers for quite a few years.
However, Canada's share has increased considerably from
2004.
A major part of Chinese vegetable imports consist of
processed vegetables and foreign varieties. The import of
processed vegetables is mainly driven by the westernization
Figure 18: China's vegetable import origins
(Source: Global Trade Atlas, FAS/USDA)
Figure 19: Vegetable import and export provinces
(Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Rabobank 2006)
28
5.3.4 Vegetable items
Tomato trade
China's fresh tomato imports and exports are very limited
(USDA, 2007) and China ranked 18th in the top exporters
of fresh tomatoes, and even lower as a importer of fresh
tomatoes (FAO). Its share in the world trade for tomato
paste is totally different. China became a significant exporter
of tomato paste since 2000 and is currently the world largest
tomato paste producer and exporter, followed by the EU
and the United States. China produces tomato paste mainly
for the export market, with export accounting for more
than 80% of production. China exported 650,000 tons of
tomato paste in 2007, up from 590,434 tons in 2005. Its
tomato paste exports have had an average annual increase
of 30%. The main importers of tomato paste in the world
are Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Mexico and
Russia. The main exporters of tomato paste are China, Italy,
Spain, Turkey, and the Unites States (FAO).
Onion trade
In 2005, the total export volume and value of onions was
571,000 tons and US $118 million respectively. Dry onion
accounted almost for 100% of the total exports in volume
and value (FAO). The export value over the years 2002, 2003,
and 2004, were US $46 million, US $86 million, and US $91
million. The export volume was 260,000 tons, 456,000 tons,
and 420,000 tons over the same period. More than half of
the Chinese onion exports (incl. dry onions and shallots)
are to Japan. Other main export markets are Russia and
Malaysia, accounting for 14% and 11% of the total exports
respectively in 2005 (FAO).
Garlic trade
Garlic (fresh or chilled) is China's top vegetable export
product and in 2005 a volume of 1.2 million tons was
exported, up from 456,000 tons in 2000. The volume export
of garlic remained stable from 2002 till 2005 and grew with
100,000 tons. However, the export value grew from US $346
million to US $563 million in the same period. The main
export market for China's garlic is Indonesia, accounting
for 22% of China's garlic export in 2005. Other important
export markets for Chinese garlic are the United States,
Brazil, Malaysia, Japan. The Netherlands imports of Chinese
garlic accounted for 3% of the total exports (FAO).
While China's garlic exports have increased its imports
decreased considerably. The imports in 2005 reached 2000
tons (US $5 million), down from 22,000 tons (US $1.3 million)
in 2000 (FAO).
Mushroom trade
The value of China's exports of mushroom products reached
US $734 million, with a volume of 425,000 tons in 2005. The
export value of China's mushroom products has risen at a
rate of nearly 15% in recent years. In 2000, the export value
of mushroom products was just US $490 million (FAO). The
export in volume grew from 327,000 tons in 2000 to 425,000
tons in 2005.
Fresh mushroom and truffles accounted for 19% of the total
exports in 2005, with a value of US $141 million and a volume
of 46,000 tons. Fresh shiitake and matsutake are the key species
for export, accounting for nearly 90% of the total fresh exports
in value. Japan is the biggest importer of fresh shiitake and
matsutake (FAO, Mushroom Business, 2007).
China's dried mushroom exports accounted for 38% of the
total exports. The export value was US $278 million in 2005,
up from the US $164 million value in 2000. The volume grew
from 34,000 tons to 40,000 tons over the same period. Dried
shiitake and wood ear are popular and exported mainly to
Japan, the United States, Malaysia and Singapore (FA,
Mushroom Business, 2007).
Canned mushrooms are the dominant export products and
accounted for 44% of the total output, with a value of US $315
million and a volume 338,000 tons in 2005. China is the number
one exporter, followed by the Netherlands (www.cnc.nl). The
export value over the years 2002, 2003, and 2004, were US
$256 million, US $317 million, and US $329 million. The export
volume was 238,000 tons, 309,000 tons, and 325,000 tons over
the same period. Both volume and value increased over the
years. The top five importers of Chinese canned mushrooms
are Russia, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and
Canada, followed by ASEAN countries.
The total import volume of mushrooms grew from 23,000
tons in 2000 to 29,000 tons in 2005. The highest import of
mushrooms was in 2004 reaching 32,000 tons. While the
import volume grew over the years the import value
decreased from US $64 million in 2000 to US $55 million
in 2005. The imported mushroom and truffles, dried
mushroom, and canned mushrooms are more or less equal
in volume, however dried mushroom rated 70% of the total
import value (FAO).
Carrot trade
After the two leading fresh vegetable products, garlic and
mushroom, carrots is one of the remaining leading fresh
vegetable exports. The export value of carrots increased
enormously from US $16million in 2000 US $107 million to
2005. The export volume increased from 80,000 tons to
401,000 tons over the same period. Chinese carrots are mainly
exported to Japan, ASEAN countries, and South Korea.
The imports of carrots are very low compared to the exports.
China imported 14,000 tons of carrots valued at US $5 million
(FAO).
Asparagus trade
China mainly exports canned asparagus, valued at $127
million in 2005, and a small amount of fresh asparagus
valued at $1.9 million in 2005. The canned asparagus market
is much larger, because China processes about 80% of its
asparagus production. Japan is China's top export destination
for fresh asparagus and the EU-25 for its processed asparagus.
In 2005, Japan accounted for 50 percent of China's total
fresh asparagus exports to the world. Although asparagus
is a labor-intensive crop China is a low-price producer
because of its comparative advantage in labor. Low prices
make China's asparagus highly competitive in international
markets despite its comparatively low quality (USDA, 2006).
29
Frozen vegetables
China's export value of frozen vegetables reached US $499
million in 2005, up from US $355 million in 2000. The frozen
vegetables showed a steady increase in value as well in
volume. The volume increased from 347,000 tons to 565,000
tons over the same period. Japan is by far the largest export
market for Chinese frozen vegetables, and accounted for
nearly 45% of the total export value and about 40% in export
volume. Other prominent export markets are South Korea,
the United States, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands.
Together all these countries account for about 90% of the
total export value of Chinese frozen vegetables (FAO).
The imports of frozen vegetable account only for 5% of the
value export. In 2005 China imported 31,000 tons valued at US
$25 million in 2005. China imports its frozen vegetables mainly
from are New Zealand, Thailand, and the Unites States. However,
the frozen food market is expected to increase because of the
changing eating habits of the Chinese people (FAO).
5.4 Agricultural trade between China
and the Netherlands
In line with the increasing Chinese international trade the
trade with the Netherlands increased over the years,
particularly the imports of the Netherlands. In 2007, Chinese
exports of agricultural products to the Netherlands reached
€634 million and the imports reached €259 million. The
import and export value of agricultural products is minimal
compared to the total trade between China and the
Netherlands. The agricultural trade only accounts for 3%
of the total trade. One of the main reasons for the low
agricultural share are the phytosanitary and veterinary trade
restrictions for agricultural products from the Netherlands.
Figure 20: Exports from China to the Netherlands
(Source: LEI, 2007 estimated by Post)
30
5.4.1 Fruit and vegetables exports from China to the
Netherlands
The total agricultural imports of the Netherlands from China
was €634 million in 2007 (2007 data are post estimates),
€529 million in 2006, and €416 million in 2005. The total
imports of agricultural products have been showing a steady
increase over the years. This trend is also the same for
planting seeds. The Netherlands imported planting seeds
from China worth €6.1 million, €7.4 million, and €7.9 million
in 2005, 2006, and 2007 respectively. The imports of fruit
and vegetables have been changing in the last three years.
The imports of fruits, nuts and herbs were the highest in
2005 with a value of €98 million. It went down to €76 million
in 2006, but recovered in 2007 reaching €90 million. Fruits,
nuts and herbs exported to the Netherlands consisted of
16.106 tons of apples, 24.450 tons of citrus fruits, 11.982
of non-tropical fruit, 4447 tons of other tropical fruits and
nuts, 27.133 tons of groundnuts, 3.209 tons of dried fruits
and nuts and 10.698 tons of herbs (LEI, 2006, 2007).
Vegetables imports in 2005, 2006, and 2007 were valued
at €10 million, €31 million, and €29 million respectively. The
Netherlands imported a volume of 22.401 tons of onions
and garlic, 839 tons of mushrooms, 161 tons of cabbage
and sprouts, 12 tons of paprika, and 2.512 tons of other
vegetables from China (LEI, 2006, 2007).
Chinese exports of processed potatoes, fruits and vegetables
showed the highest increase and doubled from €67 million
to €133 million in three years (LEI, 2006, 2007). Fruit juice
had the largest share and the import volume was 73.303
tons in 2007, and only 39.906 tons in 2005. Other imports
from China consisted of 24.198 tons of frozen and dried
vegetables, 28.793 tons of frozen fruits, 19.812 tons of
processed fruits and nuts, and 11.481 tons of other processed
vegetables (LEI, 2006, 2007).
Figure 21: Exports from the Netherlands to China
(Source: LEI, 2007 estimated by Post)
5.4.2 Fruit and vegetables exports from the Netherlands
to China
The agricultural exports from the Netherlands to China is
smaller than its imports. However, the export has been
increasing since 2005 from €224 million to €259 million in
2007. The export of planting seeds are by far the largest
product group compared to the earlier mentioned groups
on the import side. The export of planting seeds to China
was valued at €4.7 million, €5.4 million, and €5.5 million
in 2005, 2006, and 2007 respectively. Exports of fruit to
China is very limited and the export was valued at €62,000
in 2007, while the exports in 2006 were valued at €260,000.
According to the statistics of the LEI (Agricultural Economics
Research Institute of the Netherlands) the Netherlands
exported 180 tons of fruit, 39 tons of nuts and 8 tons of
herbs to China in 2006. Export in 2007 only consisted of 31
tons of nuts and 14 tons of herbs. Zero exports of fruit
explain the big difference between 2006 and 2007.
Vegetable exports in 2007 were very limited as well and
was valued at €25,000 with a volume of 28 tons. On the
other hand exports of processed potatoes, fruits and
vegetables were valued much higher reaching €2.4 million
in 2007. Processed potatoes, vegetables and fruits export
from the Netherlands consisted of 1042 tons of processed
potatoes, 42 tons of frozen vegetables, 290 tons of frozen
fruit, 115 tons of processed fruits and nuts and 94 tons of
fruit juice (LEI, 2006, 2007).
5.5 Import & export regulations, and
phytosanitary restrictions
One of the main reasons for the low European agricultural
export share to China are the phytosanitary trade restrictions.
Phytosanitary rules are set up to protect plants and plant
related products from pests and diseases. Exporting fruits
and vegetables from the Netherlands to China is very difficult
because of the strict import regulations. The Netherlands
can only export fruits and vegetables to China if there is a
bilateral protocol for the particular fruit or vegetable. The
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the
Netherlands and prominent Dutch business engaged in
agriculture are negotiating with Chinese Authorities to set
up protocols for different products. In 2000 a bilateral
protocol for seed potatoes was set up and at the moment
negotiations continue for other products, and one of them
are pears (www.minlnv.nl).
In general, the steps for exporting fruits and vegetables to
China are as follow: The exporter has to find a qualified
import company, because foreign companies are not allowed
to import goods directly to China. These import companies
are mostly local companies or foreign investment companies
that are authorized to engage in importing and exporting
of fruits and vegetables (Fruittimes, 2008). The import
company has to apply for an import permit at the local CIQ
(AQSIQ) for the agricultural products. Moreover, all the fruit
and vegetables that are exported outside the EU from the
Netherlands need an export certificate. The export certificate
is extended by the inspection authorities Kwaliteits Controle
Bureau for groente & fruit (KCB), Nederlandse algemene
keuringsdienst voor zaad en pootgoed van
landbouwgewassen (NAK), Naktuinbouw and certificates
can only be ordered from the Netherlands Plant Protection
authority (Plantenziektenkundige Dienst). When the import
permit and export certificate is acquired the exporter can
ship the products together with the phytosanitary
certifications. When products arrive in China the Chinese
Customs office will clear the products and invoice taxes and
tariffs. After the customs office the CIQ will test the products,
and check the phytosanitary certifications and import permit
documents.
When exporting from China to the Netherlands, one of the
main restrictions is that only orchards and packinghouses
registered by AQSIQ are allowed to export from China. The
Chinese government has set up these regulations.
Furthermore, when importing agro products into the
Netherlands, European phytosanitary requirements apply.
The European phytosanitary requirements are different
from the Chinese and differences lay in the allowance in
31
plant diseases. The Netherlands will allow agricultural
products that 'consist' plant diseases only when they are
not hazardous to the health or the environment. In contrast
to China that will not allow any plant diseases in the
imported products, 'zero tolerance policy', even if they are
not threatening. The 'Plantenziektenkundige Dienst' is
responsible for phytosanitary controls in the Netherlands.
32
A list of phytosanitary products can be found on the website
of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality of
The Netherlands (www.minlnv.nl). More specific information
about import and phytosanitary rules and regulations of
the Netherlands can be found on the websites www.douane.
nl and www.minlnv.nl.
Chapter 6 Technology and Innovations
China's Academies of Science have always been an
important driving force of technologies and innovations
in China. With the opening of the markets, and
improvements in intellectual property rights, notable
research institutes and companies are engaged in
developing technologies and innovations. The Chinese
Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS) was established
in 1957 and acts under the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
The CAAS is one of the most important research
organizations in China and engages in all agricultural
fields and topics, for example plantings seeds, breeding
technology, fruit and vegetable planting technology,
disease prevention and pest control.
Green genetics and new variety development are currently
the main interest of the Chinese government. The Chinese
government is aiming to produce more over the same level
of arable land. Research is done to prevent plant diseases
but also to increase the nutritional value. Because of the
farmland scarcity, China is also looking for ways to increase
the yield per hectare and shorten growing and ripening
time of fruits and vegetables. China and the Netherlands
have set up several research institutes to deepen agricultural
cooperation: the Sino-Dutch Agricultural Innovation and
Promotion Center (SDAIPC) initiative of Wageningen UR
and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The
center is based at CAAS in Beijing. Furthermore, in Hangzhou
at the Zhejiang Foresty University the Sino-Dutch Seed
Technology Research Center is located, the Potato Genome
Sequencing Consortium in Beijing, and a lab for Plant
Molecular Breeding in Shanghai (Steentjes, 2007). Both
countries have excellent knowledge in agricultural science,
and cooperation and knowledge share is important in order
to innovate and profit from each other.
Innovations in the Chinese fruit and vegetable industry are
taking place in different forms and at different levels. Product
innovations in the fruit and vegetable industry (including
seeds) consist of new fruit and vegetable varieties, new end
products and a broader range of processed (frozen, canned,
dehydrated etc.) products. The product innovations are
driven by consumers needs for diversified products and a
considerable amount of companies are engaged in
processing. New sales methods like E-Shopping and rising
trade in fruit and vegetables through the Internet are defined
as transaction innovation. Nowadays, all kind of fruit and
vegetable in China can be bought through the Internet. A
lot of Chinese farmers and processing/import/export
companies offer their products online. Special trade website
like www.alibaba.com have detailed information about
products and companies, and these websites are often used
to find suppliers and buyers. Process innovations in the
Chinese fruit and vegetable industry are especially in the
field of new processing technologies and equipments. As
said before demand for processed products is increasing
and together with stricter regulations on food safety
companies are lead to make use of new processing
technologies and equipment, because current equipment
is out of date and cannot produce high quality products
(FAO). Furthermore, more fruit and vegetables are packed
and innovation in packaging methods and materials are
becoming more important. Most of the processing
technologies are in their beginning phase but the entire
fruit and vegetable industry is improving and innovating
at a rapid rate. However, lack of knowledge and lack of
management makes it difficult to implement and maintain
it in the most effective way. The well-developed agriculture
of the Netherlands can be an example for the Chinese
industry and opportunities for Dutch enterprises are to lead
the agricultural reform in China.
33
Chapter 7 Conclusion & SWOT
The fruit and vegetable industry in China is an important
industry that is highly fragmented at the moment. The
industry showed enormous growth both in production and
exports the last years, and future growth is expected.
However a factor that could limit future fruit and vegetable
production lies in the available farmland. Food quality and
safety are becoming a major issue and the Chinese
government is making a lot of effort to assure food quality
and safety. Current regulations, monitoring and control,
which are fragmented, do not meet the high western
standards. The pesticide chemicals used are reduced and
farmers face stricter rules and regulations, and are educated
in the use of pesticides and fertilizers. These actions are
just a part of the country's 11th Five-Year Plan. In the coming
years the objective of the Chinese government is to
modernize its agriculture throughout the whole industry,
including farmer incomes, which is in imbalance compared
to urban areas. The Chinese government hopes that these
measures will strengthen local economy, and lead to better
organized and sophisticated technologies.
Rising income levels in combination with changing lifestyles,
and more concern for food safety, has led to demand for
high quality food. In recent years more and more fruit and
vegetables are labeled as pollution free, green food and
organic food. Recent food poison incidents in the country
also made people more concerned. However, the organic
food market is still in its beginnings and relatively small
and organic products are mainly available in modern
supermarkets and hypermarkets that are located in large
urban cities. The supermarkets and hypermarkets are leading
in offering safe fruit and vegetables, but there is a fierce
competition from 'authentic' markets where the quality is
lower, but improving. Statistics showed that Chinese
consumers are consuming more fresh fruits and processed
fruits and vegetables products. They also demand more
fruit and vegetable variations lead by rising incomes and
changing Chinese diet. In recent years the fruit and vegetable
assortment has extended with more foreign, processed and
exotic varieties.
The fruit and vegetable chain is highly fragmented with a
lot of small-scale farmers that produce mainly for the
domestic market. The two largest production provinces for
fruit and vegetables are the provinces Shangdong and
Hebei. A lot of farmers grow vegetables and fruit because
it is more profitable than other crops. The technology in
production is low and can be inefficient which leads to low
yield output per hectare. Vertical integration by retailers
and processors in the supply chain is a recent trend in order
to control the supply, quality and safety. More cooperation
34
throughout the industry will lead to higher quality and
safety. This means a shift from an open supply chain, which
is inefficient, supply driven, and with low safety and quality
standards, towards a more coordinated supply chain with
high standards, more efficiency and high quality. Supply
chain management will become an important issue as there
is little knowledge and experience currently in China and
quality management will be an important a part of it.
Processing companies, importers and exporters are
nowadays chain leaders and coordinate the supply chain.
There is a lot of room for improvement within the
distribution and logistics of fruit and vegetables. Especially
as the current warehousing and cold storage facilities do
not meet the current quality standards and cannot handle
the volume of fruits and vegetables. Improvements in
distribution, logistics and warehousing are important
because significant amounts of products are lost. Moreover
well-managed cold chains from end-to-end in the supply
chain are needed because frozen fruit and vegetable
products will increase its share in the market. Further
improvements and innovations are needed in the processing
industry as China's processed fruit and vegetable products
are increasing and becoming more important.
Since China entered the World Trade Organization the
export market grew more rapidly compared to the import
market. China's trade partly depends on the exported
product, however the main countries China exports to are
Japan, South Korea, Russia, the United States, and the
European Union. China's main export market Japan has
strengthened import regulations after food scandals and
exports to Japan are expected to decline. The main countries
for China's imports are the ASEAN countries and the United
States. China's trade with the ASEAN countries is expected
to increase because the zero tariff agreements are partly
in place. China's import and export mainly takes place in
the southeastern coastal regions, which are also the
important economic zones. The provinces Shandong and
Guangdong are the major trade zones for fruit and
vegetables, however more provinces are important and
account for the import and export of fruit and vegetables.
The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
(SWOT) of the Chinese fruit and vegetable industry are
given in figure 22. The opportunities given for the Chinese
fruit and vegetable industry also include the opportunities
for the Dutch businesses in this figure. This study is not an
in depth study but more a general study of the Chinese fruit
and vegetable industry and the themes handled in the
SWOT are drawn on the same basis.
Figure 22: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) Analysis
Strengths
- Low labor costs
- Position in the world market
- Juice production
- Leader in production and exports for some fruit and vegetable varieties
- Government support for agriculture during 11th year plan
- Self sufficiency in planting seeds, fruit and vegetables
- Consumer spending in urban areas on food is a third of their income
- Incomes are growing
Weaknesses
- Fruit and vegetable industry highly fragmented
- Post harvest losses
- Low yield per hectare
- Distribution and infrastructure
- Consumers are price sensitive
- Cold storage facilities
- Food quality and safety
- Image of China on food safety
- Lack of know how
- Lack of infrastructure
- Farmland resources
- High use of fertilizers and pesticides
- Intellectual property rights
- Numerous government authorities involved at different levels
- Supply chain
Opportunities
- Governments emphasis on rural development
- Focus on safety and quality
- Improving economic situation
- Growing domestic market
- Increasing demand for pollution free, green food and organic fruit and vegetables
- Demand for fruit and vegetable varieties
- Demand for fruit and vegetable juice
- Demand for processed and frozen products
- Demand for exotic fruits
- High quality planting seeds
- Supermarket and hypermarkets sell more fruit and vegetable products
- Supply chain management and quality management
- Distribution and logistics facilities
- Processing industry is increasing
- Cold storage facilities
- Production of labor intensive crops, because of low labor costs
- Regulations, monitoring and control opportunities regarding food safety
- Educational support in farming techniques
- Knowledge transfer in general
Threats
- Food safety and quality scandals
- Phytosanitary regulations
- Zero tariff ASEAN countries
- Stricter control in international trade
- More international competition
- Restricted regulations by governments
- Land resources
- Influence of high food prices on fruit and vegetable consumption
35
Doing business in China
Once the decision has been taken to conduct business in
the Chinese market, a company needs to determine the
right mode of entry. Several options are available ranging
from sales representatives to joint ventures to a wholly
owned foreign enterprise. For this reason a company has
to consider its level of commitment, risk control, and the
profit potential attached to each alternative carefully. A
number of challenges need to be overcome such as unknown
culture, legislation, tax system, and possible imitation of
brands/goods/technology. In this sense cooperation with
a Chinese company might be a good option, as local
companies possess more knowledge on conducting business
in China.
For more information, please visit the website of the Embassy
of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the People's Republic
of China, www.hollandinchina.org, and the website of LNVdepartment www.nlpekagr.com.
36
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Appendix 1
Applications for registration for variety protection
1. The total application and registration status in MoA and SFA
Ministry
MoA
SFA
Total
Application
4961
490
5451
Total
Registration
1557
199
1756
Sub-total from foreign countries Sub total from the Netherlands
Application
Registration
Application
Registration
195
23
70
10
152
72
38
10
347
95
108
20
2. The breakdown for the Netherlands (MoA and SFA)
Country
Plant varieties
Lily
Chrysanthemum
African daisy
Carnation
Eggplant
Potato
Tomato
Pear
Pepper
Rose
The Netherlands
Total
Application
23
22
10
4
4
3
2
1
1
38
108
Registration
1
4
3
1
0
1
0
0
0
10
20
3. Total application and registration by varieties in China
(1) MoA (from 1999-2008, update on 2008.4.30)
Varieties
Agricultural Crops
Application: 4479
Registration: 1438
Maize
Rice
Common wheat
Gossypium
Soybean
Cabbage type rape (Brassica napus L.)
Peanut
Broomcorn
Hurdeum
Millet
Sweet potato
Broad bean
Mung bean
Castor
Flax
Mustard type rape (Brassica juncea Czern. et Coss.)
Total
Application
1884
1565
458
181
168
111
25
24
23
15
14
4
3
2
1
1
Registration
609
576
152
0
47
33
9
2
5
0
4
0
0
1
0
0
39
Total
Varieties
Vegetable
Application: 196
Registration: 59
Flower
Application: 156
Registration: 28
Fruit
Application: 126
Registration: 32
Fodder grass
Application: 4
Total
Application
34
29
28
28
20
13
13
12
6
4
3
3
1
1
1
55
34
26
20
18
1
2
34
32
19
14
14
8
3
1
1
2
2
4961
Water melon
Chinese cabbage
Capsicum
Tomato
Potato
Cucumber
Stray berry
Sweet melon
Eggplant
Cabbage
Radish
Oyster mushroom
Carrot
Bean
Cauliflower
Chrysanthemum
Lily
African daisy
Carnation
Orchid
Gladiolus
Buttercup
Pear
Apple
Grape
Peach
Kiwi
Citrus
Plum
Litchi
Morus
Rumex
Alfalfa
Registration
9
17
6
10
5
6
0
0
0
4
2
0
0
0
0
6
1
6
8
7
0
0
14
4
0
9
1
3
0
1
0
0
0
1557
(2) SFA (1999 - the end of 2007)
Total
Sub total from the Netherlands
40
Application
490
38 (all rose)
Registration
199
10 (all rose)
Appendix 2
Contact details of leading companies
Planting Seeds Companies
: Syngenta (China) Investment Co. Ltd
Company
: 999 Pudong South Road, Shanghai
Address
: +86 (21) 3865 1800
Phone
: +86 (21) 6888 2277
Fax
: www.syngenta.com
Website
Main business : Seeds producer, Crop protection
: DengHai Seed (Xiyou) Co. Ltd
Company
: Xiyou Town 261418 Laizhou City
Address
: +86 (535) 274 2588
Phone
: +86 (535) 274 2162
Fax
: www.xixingseeds.com
Website
Main business : Vegetable seeds
Company
Address
: Rijk Zwaan Qingdao Co. Ltd.
: Building JianFei Garden No. 87,
Hongkong Dong Rd, 266061, Qingdao
: +86 (532) 880 17909
Phone
: +86 (532) 880 17695
Fax
: www.rijkzwaan.cn
Website
Main business : Breeding and seed production
: Liaoning Dongya Agri.Development Co., Ltd
Company
Address
: North Changjiang Street, Shenyang, Liaoning
Phone
: +86 (24) 86126563
Fax
: +86 (24) 86121652
Website
: www.dongya-agri.com
Main business : Fruit and vegetable seeds
: Nunhems Beijing Seeds Co. Ltd
Company
: No.90 Beimafang Dongwei Road, Beijing
Address
: +86 (10) 8431 5836
Phone
: +86 (10) 8431 5822
Fax
: www.nunhems.com
Website
Main business : Vegetable seeds
: XiYu Seeds Co. Ltd
Company
: Eastern Ningbian Road, Changji, Xinjiang
Address
: +86 (994) 289 3011
Phone
: +86 (994) 289 2415
Fax
: www.xiyuseeds.com
Website
Main business : Fruit and vegetable seeds
: Tianjin Derit Seed Co. Ltd
Company
: Baidi road 200 Nankai district Tianjin
Address
: +86 (22) 8789 3321
Phone
: +86 (10) 8789 3321
Fax
: www.drs.cn
Website
Main business : Vegetable seeds
: Longda Seeds Corporation
Company
: Beijing South Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang
Address
: +86 (991) 367 3815
Phone
: +86 (991) 382 6741
Fax
: www.longdaseeds.com
Website
Main business : Vegetable seeds and flower seeds
: Bejo Seeds Shanghai
: Huai Hai China Tower, 885 Renmin Rd,
Shanghai
: +86 (21) 6311 0419
Phone
: +86 (21) 2962 1113
Fax
: www.bejo.cn
Website
Main business : Vegetable seeds
Company
Address
Company
Address
: Vimorin
: Dongxiaokou, Changping District,
Beijing
: +86 (10) 5860 7451
Phone
: +86 (10) 5860 7471
Fax
: www.vilmorin.com
Website
Main business : Vegetable seeds
41
Company
Address
: Seminis
: Dongyi, Xibahe Xili Beisanhuan Dong Rd,
Beijing
: +86 (10) 6539 1515
Phone
: +86 (10) 6539 1512
Fax
: www.seminis.com
Website
Main business : Fruit and vegetable seeds
Company
Address
: Monsanto
Company
: 2A Gong Ti Bei Lu, Chaoyang District
Address
: +86 (10) 6539 1515
Phone
: +86 (10) 6539 1512
Fax
: www.monsanto.com
Website
Main business : Fruit and vegetable seeds
Company
: Juye Jianong Fruits and Vegetables Co. Ltd
Address
: West jinshan Road Juye Shandong
Phone
: +86 (0530) 831 2038
Fax
: +86 (0530) 831 2959
Website
: www.jianong.com
Main business : Garlic, Carrot, ginger, apple, pear, pomelo
Fruit and vegetable
(producing/processing/trading)
companies
Company
: Tianjin Native Produce I/E Group Corp. Ltd
Address
: Huiyuan Road,Beixiaoying,Shunyi District ,Beijing
Phone
: +86 (22) 2331 4276
Fax
: +86 (22) 2331 3074
Website
: www.tnpgc.com.cn
Main business : dried nuts and related products, salted vegetables,
honey, dehydrated vegetables , chili and related
products, seeds
Company
: Beijing SeeDo Foods Co. Ltd
Address
: Shu Guang Xi Li, Chaoyang, Beijing
Phone
: +86 (10) 8440 4570
Fax
: +86 (10) 8440 4583
Website
: www.seedofoods.com
Main business : Pumpkin kernel, snow white pumpkinseed in shell,
pinenut kernels, apricot kernels, beans, organic
kidney beans, and other organic products
Company
: Haitong Food Group Co. Ltd
Address
: Haitong Rd., Cixi City, Zhejiang Province
Phone
: +86 (0574) 6303 9988
Fax
: +86 (0574) 6303 9898
Website
: www.kaiz.com
Main business : Strawberry, Quick-frozen vegetable, dehydrated
vegetable, canned fruit and vegetable,
concentrated juice, conditioned fruit and
vegetable, fresh vegetable and preserved fruit
and vegetable
42
: Evergreen Zhonghong fruit, vegetable Co.
: Landi commercial building, south street,
Beijing
: +86 (10) 6526 6554
Phone
: +86 (10) 6526 6553
Fax
: -Website
Main business : Pears, apples, sweet melon, peaches, ginger,
garlic and Chinese vegetable
Company
: Shijiazhuang Fortune Foods Co. Ltd
Address
: North Pingan Street, Shijiazhuang
Phone
: +86 (311) 8529 0959
Fax
: +86 (311) 8608 0611
Website
: www.fortune-foods.com
Main business : Quick frozen fruit, vegetables, mushrooms,
dried products
Company
: Shaanxi Huasheng Corp. Fruit Co. Ltd
Address
: Weiyang Lake District Development Zone, Xi'an
Phone
: +86 (29) 8667 4516
Fax
: +86 (29) 8667 1461
Website
: www.huashengfruit.com
Main business : Fresh apple (mainly fuji) producer and exporter
Company
: Beijing Andros Fruit Co. Ltd
Address
: Nankou Farm, Changping District, Beijing
Phone
: +86 (10) 6978 3743
Fax
: +86 (10) 6978 3747
Website
: www.andros.com.cn
Main business : Fruit puree, Quick frozen fruit, fresh juice, jam
: Xuzhou LiMing Food Co. Ltd
Company
: Suyangshan Town,PiZhou City, JiangSu
Address
: +86 (516) 8656 3333
Phone
: +86 (516) 8656 3222
Fax
: www.lmfood.com
Website
Main business : Garlic, dehydrated, fresh, frozen and
pickled fruits and vegetable
Company
: Hongchang Fruit & Vegtable products Co. Ltd
Address
: Minxi market of Jinxinang, Jining, Shandong
Phone
: +86 (537) 8811 394
Fax
: +86 (537) 8812 777
Website
: www.garlichongchang.com
Main business : Garlic, ginger, onion, potato, carrot, apple,
pear and other fruit and vegetable products,
salted and dehydrated products
Company
: COFCO Xinjiang Tunhe Co. Ltd
Address
: Huanghe Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang
Phone
: +86 (0991) 5571 888
Fax
: +86 (0991) 5571 600
Website
: www.cofcotunhe.com
Main business : Processed tomato, aseptic tomato paste,
canned tomato, tomato powder, fresh apricot,
apricot puree, canned vegetable
Company
: Xinjiang Chalkis Tomato Products Co. Ltd
Address
: Qingnian Road Sunshine Plaza, Urumqi, Xinjiang
Phone
: +86 (0991) 8852 136
Fax
: +86 (0991) 8816 688
Website
: www.chalkistomato.com
Main business : Tomato paste
Company
: Shandong Long Tai Fruit & Vegetable Co. Ltd
Address
: Taomiao Eco. Zone, Juye Heze, Shangdong
Phone
: +86 (530) 8549 999
Fax
: +86 (530) 8543 588
Website
: www.longtaigroup.cn
Main business : Garlic, peeled garlic, onions, gingers, peanut,
carrots, apples and pears, vegetable & fruit juices
Company
: Shanghai Gaorong Food Co.,Ltd.
Address
: Kerry Everbright City, Tianmu Road, Shanghai
Phone
: +86 (21) 6354 1065
Fax
: +86 (21) 6354 6907
Website
: www.gaorong.com
Main business : Onion, Carrot, other fresh vegetables and fruits
: Shandong Yipin Agro (Group) Co. Ltd
Company
: Dikou Road, Jinan 250031, Shandong
Address
: +86 (531) 8568 6305
Phone
: +86 (531) 8568 6318
Fax
: www.yipin-vegetable.com
Website
Main business : Garlic
Company
: Shandong xingda foodstuff group Co. Ltd
Address
: East Xingda Street,Linshu,Shangdong
Phone
: +86 (539) 6211 101
Fax
: +86 (539) 6212 361
Website
: www.sd-xingdagroup.com
Main business : Garlic, garlic bolt, ginger, onion, dried vegetables,
Horse radish, Chinese onion, radish, burdock,
carrot, chestnut, canned garlic clove (garlic
sauce), canned fruit, peanut
Company
: Jining Shengtai Fruits & Vegetables Co. Ltd
Address
: No. 89 Int. garlic capital, Jining, Shandong
Phone
: +86 (537) 8818 668
Fax
: +86 (537) 8817 388
Website
: -Main business : Carrot, onion, garlic
Company
: Fujian Cereals, Oils & Foodstuffs I/E Co.
Address
: World trade plaze, no71 Wushi road, Fuzho
Phone
: +86 (591) 8754 4539
Fax
: +86 (591) 8751 4843
Website
: www.coffj.com
Main business : canned vegetables (mushroom, asparagus),
canned fruits, dry lychee, longan, mushroom,
boiled bamboo shoots, garlic, vegetables
Company
: Xiamen Xindeco Import & Export Company
Address
: 2/f Xindeco blg, Huli, Xiamen
Phone
: +86 (592) 6025 621
Fax
: +86 (592) 6021 752
Website
: -Main business : Canned asparagus, canned mushroom
Company
: Jining Golden Longyuan Int. trading Co. Ltd
Address
: Zhicheng Int Center, Jinyu Rd, Jining, Shandong
Phone
: +86 (537)328 6666
Fax
: +86 (537 336 9999
Website
: www.longyuanfresh.com
Main business : Apple, pear, pomelo, kiwi, potato, carrots,
ginger, garlic
Company
: Xinjiang Agricultural Products Co. Ltd
Address
: Xinjiang
Phone
: +86 (531) 8568 6305
Fax
: +86 (531) 8568 6318
Website
: www.toppear.com.cn
Main business : Korla fragrant pear, Ya pear, Tribute pear, apple,
orange, hami-melon, grape
43
Company
: Jining Sanlong vegetable & fruit Co. Ltd
Address
: no147 Guanghe Road, Jining, Shandong
Phone
: +86 (537) 2400 888
Fax
: +86 (537) 2400 666
Website
: www.sanlong.cn
Main business : Ya Pear, golden pear, Fuji apple, pomelo,
mandarin, orange, kiwifruit, grape, garlic,
ginger, onion, carrot
Company
: Jiangsu Cereals, Oils & Foodstuffs I/E Corp
Address
: 528. S. Taiping Rd, Nanjing ,Jiangsu
Phone
: +86 (25) 6303 9988
Fax
: +86 (25) 6303 9818
Website
: www.jfoc.com
Main business : Strawberry
Company
: Asia Foods (Longhai) Co. Ltd
Address
: Dankeng, Haicheng Town, Longhai City, Fujian
Phone
: +86 (596) 6566 072
Fax
: +86 (596) 6566 159
Website
: www.asiafd.com.cn
Main business : Frozen vegetable, mixed vegetable
Company
: Ajinomoto
Address
: Songjiang Industrial dlpm Zone, Shangha
Phone
: +86 (592) 7060 888
Fax
: +86 (592) 7162 988
Website
: www.ajinomoto.com.cn
Main business : Frozen products
Company
: Zhejiang Cereal, Oil & Foodstuff I/E Co. Ltd
Address
: No 229 Tiyuchang Rd., Hangzhou
Phone
: +86 (571) 8577 9999
Fax
: +86 (571) 8515 2514
Website
: www.zjcof.com.cn
Main business : Dried vegetables, frozen vegetables,
dydrated products, fresh vegetables
Company
: Taian FooK Hut Tong Kee Foodstuffs Co. Ltd
Address
: Fanzhen Daiyue District, Taian city, Shandong
Phone
: +86 (0538) 8682 888
Fax
: +86 (0538) 8681 599
Website
: -Main business : Dried vegetables
44
: Hunan Premium Foods Corp. Ltd
Company
: No.7 Zhuyuan Road, Changsha, Hunan
Address
: +86 (0731) 2287 913
Phone
: +86 (0731) 2280 475
Fax
: www.tzgfood.com
Website
Main business : Canned fruit
Company
: AHCOF International Development Co. Ltd
Address
: Sunan plaze No 389 Jinzhai Road, Heifei
Phone
: +86 (551) 2831 179
Fax
: +86 (551) 2652 831
Website
: www.ahcof.com
Main business : Canned fruit
Company
: Huangyan Import & Export Corporation
Address
: 49 Youth Rd. Western Huangyan, Zhejiang
Phone
: +86 (576) 8401 0101
Fax
: +86 (576) 8401 0100
Website
: www.hyiec.com
Main business : Canned fruit
Company
: Zhengfeng Dried fruit foodstuff I/E Co. Ltd
Address
: Xieyu Rd., Keji Ave., Zhongshan, Guangdong
Phone
: +86 (760) 8290 688
Fax
: +86 (760) 8290 628
Website
: www.zhengfeng-cn.com
Main business : Dried fruit
Juicing Companies
: SDIC Zhonglu Fruit Juice Co. Ltd
Company
: Fuwai Street, Xicehng District, Beijing
Address
: +86 (10) 6809 5011
Phone
: +86 (10) 6809 5066
Fax
: www.sdiczl.com
Website
Main business : Fruit & vegetable juice production,
apple juice leading product
Company
: Shaanxi Haisheng Fresh Fruit Juice Co. Ltd
Address
: Yucai Building, Yucai Road, Xi'an
Phone
: +86 (29) 8810 9553
Fax
: +86 (29) 8521 6521
Website
: www.chinahaisheng.com
Main business : Fruit juice production,
apple juice leading product
Retail companies
: Yantai North Andre Juice Co. Ltd
Company
: Andre Road, Yantai
Address
: +86 (535) 4218 988
Phone
: +86 (535) 4218 858
Fax
: www.andre.com.cn
Website
Main business : Apple juice and pear juice production
Company
: Shaanxi Hengxing Fruit Juice Co. Ltd
Address
: Keji Road, Xi'an
Phone
: +86 (29) 8833 7509
Fax
: +86 (29) 8833 7011
Website
: www.fruitjuice-china.com
Main business : Fruit production and (granny smith apples,
strawberries, blackberries, apple seeds) Juice
production, apple juice, pear juice and kiwi juice
Company
: Tongda Fruit Juice & Beverage Co. Ltd
Address
: Taibai Road, Xi'an
Phone
: +86 (29) 8824 7696
Fax
: +86 (29) 8824 4043
Website
: www.tongdajuice.com
Main business : Fruit juice production, apple juice, pineapple,
juice, pear Juice. Canned fruit, canned Pineapple
Company
: Beijing Hui Yuan Beverage & Food Group Co.
Address
: Huiyuan Road,Beixiaoying,Shunyi District ,Beijing
Phone
: +86 (10) 6048 3388
Fax
: +86 (10) 6048 3366
Website
: www.huiyuan.com.cn
Main business : Fruit juice production, 100% juices, nectars,
juice rinks, mixed fruit and vegetable juices
Company
: Master Kong Ting Hsin International Group
Address
: Economic-Technological development area,Tainjin
Phone
: +86 (852) 2511 1911
Fax
: +86 (852) 2511 7911
Website
: http://www.tinghsin.com.tw
Main business : Production and distribution of noodles,
beverages and baked goods. Master Kong brand
fruit and vegetable juice
: Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co. Ltd
Company
: North Qiutao Road, Hangzhou
Address
: +86 (571) 8603 2866
Phone
: +86 (571) 86951532
Fax
: http://www.wahaha.com.cn
Website
Main business : Food and beverage producer.
Broad range of beverage products
Company
: Lianhua Supermarket Holdings Co. Ltd
(subsidiary of the Shanghai Brilliance group)
: 7th Floor,No 1258,Zhen Guang Rd,Shanghai
Address
: +86 (21) 5262 9922
Phone
: +86 (21) 5279 7976
Fax
: www.lhok.com.cn
Website
Main business : Supermarket, hypermarket, distribution
: Dalian Dashang Group
Company
: No. 1 Qing San Street, Dalian
Address
: +86 (411) 8364 3215
Phone
: +86 (411) 8363 0358
Fax
: www.dsjt.com
Website
Main business : Department stores, supermarket
Company
Address
: Carrefour (China) Hypermarket Co. Ltd
: Shanghai Stock Exchange Building,
528 Pudong Nan Road, Pudong, Shanghai
: +86 (21) 3178 4500
Phone
: +86 (21) 6881 5877
Fax
: www.carrefour.com.cn
Website
Main business : Hypermarket, discounters
Company
: Beijing Hualian Group
Address
: Xicheng District, Beijing
Phone
: +86 (10) 6834 1188
Fax
: +86 (10) 6836 4972
Website
: www.beijing-hualian.com
Main business : Supermarket
: Dalian Dashang Group
: 39/F China Resources Building,
26 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
: +86 (852) 2827 1028
Phone
: +86 (852) 2598 8453
Fax
: www.cre.com.hk
Website
Main business : Supermarket, logistics, food processing
andDistribution
Company
Address
: China Resource Suguo
Company
: Jiefang Rd 55th, Nanjing
Address
: +86 (25) 8468 2825
Phone
: +86 (25) 8468 2825
Fax
: www.suguo.com.cn
Website
Main business : Supermarket
45
: Wumart stores, Inc
Company
: Yuquan Building Shijingshan Rd. Beijing
Address
: +86 (10) 8825 9488
Phone
: +86 (10) 6462 0143
Fax
: www.wumart.com
Website
Main business : Hypermarkets, mini-marts
: Trustmart
Company
: CangWu Rd, XuHui District, Shanghai
Address
: +86 (21) 5462 4555
Phone
: +86 (21) 5448 1542
Fax
: www.trust-mart.com
Website
Main business : Hypermarkets
: China Resource Vanguard Co. Ltd
: 39/F China Resources Building,
26 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
: +86 (852) 2827 1028
Phone
: +86 (852) 2598 8453
Fax
: www.crvanguard.com.cn
Website
Main business : Supermakets
Company
Address
46