Until recently, detractors blithely dismissed China’s massive fruit production. They argued that the mainland’s fresh produce volumes were not up to scratch and it would take years before they could even hope to compete in world markets.
But growers have taken on board repeated calls for consistent, good quality fruit and what is apparent is that China has learnt very quickly.
Chinese efforts have culminated in most noticeably good quality apples and great pears - something that not even the greatest optimist could have envisaged 20 years ago.
Soon it may be time for grapes to take centre stage. While the overwhelming majority of China’s grape crop is consumed domestically, producers are hoping that over time, they can find more export markets willing to try their wares.
Grapes have been grown in China for more than 2,000 years but it’s only in the last 20 years that production has accelerated. Indeed, in the late1990s, the land area devoted to grapes was 55 times higher than it was in 1949 and production continues to rise.
Grapes rank fifth in China’s fruit output and according to China’s Ministry of Agriculture, production totalled 5.3m tonnes in 2004.
Five provinces account for the vast majority of production. Xingjiang, Hebei and Shandong are the three largest producing areas, followed by Liaoning and Henan.
Grape vines usually begin bearing fruit in the second or third year after planting and mature vines may produce 20t to 30t per hectare in irrigated vineyards.
At the current time, less than one per cent of grapes are exported but shippers are confident that this will change - and quickly. According to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Hong Kong, South East Asian markets including Malaysia and Singapore, Pakistan and Russia are the main importers of Chinese grapes.
In recent years, growers have concentrated their efforts on improving grape quality and are investing in commercial varieties in a bid to attract more export markets.
Observers note that quality of some grapes is still found to be wanting and importers have complained of a lack of uniformity. However, with more suppliers keen to find an audience, it may not be too long before China reaches previously unknown heights.
Matthew Tang of Linkage Holdings notes that grapes, in particular the Red Globe variety, are grown over various areas throughout China. “Shandong, Hebei and Shanxi all produce quite a bit of production,” he notes.
“Further up along the coast at Laoning, the Japanese grape variety, Kyoho, is grown and consumed by the local fresh market.”
Chinese firm Jinzhou Cici produces a range of fruits including top fruit and Red Globe grapes. The Hebei-based producer exports its Red Globe grapes under the brand Cici and began supplying this variety to overseas markets in 2002.
“Red Globe is available from mid-September and there’s a very good market in South East Asia,” says Jack Guo of Jinzhou Cici.
“Good quality Chinese fruits are going into the UK now and I think it will be the same for grapes. Maybe next year someone will try,” he estimates.
One multinational said that it began sourcing small shipments of Chinese grapes but it was too early to disclose details.
Tang believes that it may be possible for Chinese grape exporters to target European markets in the future. However, as things currently stand, only small volumes of Grade 1 are likely to be shipped. In addition, domestic demand is also rising which will further reduce the volumes available for export.
“This season we did not do much on Chinese table grapes as production volumes in Xinjiang, the area I was working in, is small,” he says.
Tang notes that Xinjiang has a long tradition of growing grapes but the crop is eaten up by local consumers or processed for raisins. The variety grown is white seedless, similar to Thompson, Tang notes, although farmers are branching out.
“About five years ago, growers started planting Red Globe and plantings increased,” he explained. However, they did not have an easy time as insufficient knowledge in terms of managing the crop, coupled with a lack of resources, hampered the deal, resulting in low yields and inconsistent quality.
Growers are attempting to iron out these problems as it battles for export space.
“We must always bear in mind that China is a vast land mass and climatically could eventually produce for different seasons,” says Rod Hill of Capespan. “We are in contact with producer companies but currently local grapes are not really produced for export to Europe.”
Hill believes it will need technical input to produce, pick and pack for Europe with the long sea journey. But he notes that the most interesting period for China would be the later months, October to November, at the end of the European season.
However, it is not going to be easy for the Chinese. “One of the major problems that we foresee is that production is currently in areas that coincide exactly with European production,” Hill says. “This is less interesting due to price and duty tariffs and it is likely that in the future, production areas will be found and varieties planted that can be exported to Europe during a later period.”
A high proportion of current production is Red Globe for the Chinese and other Asian markets. However, Hill notes that the real potential for China to gain access to the UK would be for seedless varieties.
“We believe it will take a lot of technical expertise to export table grapes commercially from China but, like most things, it will happen and very quickly,” Hill says. “In the short term exports will be speculative but inevitably this will change if they are successful.”
WHAT NEXT FOR CHINA?
China can, and does, produce a vast amount of fruit crops. From apples to citrus, kiwifruit and melons, it seems as if there’s nothing this vast country can’t grow.
In recent years, farmers have been fine-tuning their operations and are making quality their priority. Their significant efforts are starting to pay off.
Observers note that parts of China now have the technology and quality growing methods to produce high quality goods to export markets. That is not to say that things are perfect. Inconsistency on some lines remains an issue and the vast size of China continues to cause logistical headaches.
However, growers are beginning to recognise that unless they have the right quality, it does not matter how much volume or how many crops can be grown - export markets will not take fresh produce if it cannot find an audience for it.
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