The fresh produce industry should not be overly concerned at the moment about Chinese export potential, said Matthew Tang of China’s Linkage Holdings, at the Southern Hemisphere Congress in Santiago.
Despite increasing its fresh produce output from 6.9 million tonnes to 76.1mt in the last 10 years, the country is only advancing in line with its population boom, he said. “We have around 20 per cent of the world’s production and around 20 per cent of its population. We only export two per cent of our production. I don’t think people should worry so much, as many of the varieties are only suitable for the local Chinese market.
Rapid expansion of production (by 44mt) during the 1990s came too early for China, he said, and has led to a proliferation of unsuitable planted varieties. Chinese pears, mandarins, grapes and bananas, for instance, which between them account for more than 50 per cent of production volumes, are largely unsuitable for the international fresh marketplace and more than half of the 21.5mt of apples produced last year were Fuji, while 4mt went into the juices that have transformed China into the leader in that sector. Only 774,000t of apples were exported last year and only five per cent of overall exports go to Europe.
“We have a big problem, in that we need new varieties,” Tang said, before adding a perhaps ominous footnote. “We are not aggressive at all with our exports. We need to get harder in the next 10 years. China is a developing market and has many ups and downs, but more co-ordination could move our products in the right direction.”
Importers around the world would be well-advised to get involved, rather than waiting to see how the situation unfolds. “If you can’t kill the giant, dance with the giant - it’s the only way”, said Tang.
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