China’s Rising Fruit and Vegetable Export Challenge U.S. Industry
1.China’s Rapid Rise in Exports
Chinese fruit and vegetable exports are mainly processed products, accounting for 60 percent of the total value of fruit and vegetable exports in 2002-04 and about 12 percent of global trade. Exports of processed products more than doubled between 1992-94 and 2002-04 (fig. 1). Leading exports include vegetable mixes (prepared and preserved but not frozen), frozen vegetables, and mushrooms. China’s exports of processed fruit are relatively small, but a number of frozen and processed fruit items (jams, jellies, citrus, dried grapes, frozen strawberries, and apricots) registered rapid percentage growth during the most recent period (2002-04).
While most of China’s vegetable exports are processed, fresh vegetable exports nearly tripled between 1992-94 and 2002-04. Fresh vegetables are now the second-largest fruit and vegetable export category, accounting for 16 percent of export value and about 5 percent of global trade. Two products, garlic and mushrooms, account for more than half of fresh vegetable exports, with a combined average value of $481 million per year during 2002-04. Other leading fresh vegetable exports include onions, carrots, and radishes (table 1).
Fresh fruit, more than tripling its export value between 1992-94 and 2002- 04, accounts for 8 percent of China’s fruit and vegetable exports. Apples are the primary fruit export, accounting for more than half of the annual export value. Other major fresh fruit exports include pears and tangerines.
