Taiwan's fruit exports to China increased only slightly despite Beijing's much-hyped announcement of duty-free access to 15 types of Taiwanese fruit as from this month, Council of Agriculture Minister Lee Ching-lung (李金龍) said on Friday.
Lee said in an interview that a total of 80 tonnes of Taiwanese fruit were sold to China in the first 20 days of this month -- only slightly more than the average of 86 tonnes sold per month before China announced the duty-free arrangement.
Noting that China's huge population of poor farmers has been a political burden to its leaders, Lee said it is doubtful that the mainland could be a lucrative market for Taiwan's fruit.
Most of the 15 types of Taiwanese fruit to which China has opened its market have always been imported from southeast Asian states. Imports of these fruit from Taiwan will not impact Chinese farmers.
The other fruit are not grown in great quantities and only a few local farmers benefit from their duty-free status, Lee said.
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