Taiwan will ship 800 tonnes of bananas to China by the end of June, the first time the fruit will be sold in Chinese markets since 2006.
The first 96 tonnes of bananas were shipped last week and Hsu Han-Ching, chief secretary of the country's Agriculture and Food Agency, said the quality of bananas exported is as high as those shipped to Japan.
'We hope to introduce our high quality bananas to China, where the Philippines has been China's main source of banana imports, ' Mr Hsu said.
The wholesale price of bananas has dropped by almost 40 per cent in Taiwan on 2009 levels, sitting at T$14.60 (US$0.44) per kg on 28 May, Focus Taiwan reported.
Mr Hsu said the lower prices were caused by a slump in Japanese demand and increased competition from summer fruits such as watermelons and pineapples.
The Taiwanese opposition has urged the government to take steps to boost sales of the fruit, as banana exports fell 10 per cent on 2009 levels through the first four months of this year.
So far in 2010, 4,927 tonnes of Taiwanese bananas have been exported to Japan.
