Agricultural export value to China this year has hit a new low of 9.1 percent of total agricultural exports, Minister of Agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said on Tuesday, following Beijing’s ban on Taiwanese mangoes.
China on Monday announced a suspension of mango imports from Taiwan, “once again flouting international norms” by failing to engage in scientific dialogue, Chen wrote on Facebook.
However, the main markets for mango exports have in recent years shifted toward Japan, South Korea and other countries, exemplifying a general trend away from China, he said.
Photo: Lam Yik Fei, Bloomberg
Due to their over-reliance on one market, agricultural products have in recent years become a political tool used by Beijing to influence Taiwanese society, he wrote.
The Ministry of Agriculture has therefore been working to diversify to other markets, thereby reducing exporters’ exposure, Chen said.
The result has been a steady decline in export value bound for China, from 23.2 percent of the total in 2018, to 12.9 percent last year, he wrote.
A new record was set in the first seven months of this year, with only 9.1 percent of agricultural export value bound for China, he added.
China is now the fourth-largest market for the industry, surpassed by the US and Japan which account for 18.5 percent and 16.4 percent respectively, he said.
Fruit exports to China have fallen dramatically from a peak of 80.1 percent in 2019 to only 1.6 percent last year, while Japan now accounts for more than half, Chen said, adding that meeting Japan’s high quality standards would help Taiwan export to other markets.
As for mangoes, 11.6 percent were bound for China this year, compared with 47.6 percent in 2019, Chen said.
A total of 3,873 tonnes were exported in the first seven months, worth US$14.75 million, he said.
By value, Japan came in first with US$5.67 million imported (715 tonnes), followed by South Korea with US$3.84 million (628 tonnes), Hong Kong with US$3.03 million (1,458 tonnes) and then China with US$1.71 million (938 tonnes), he said.
Mangoes sold elsewhere also fetch up to four times more per kilogram than in China, selling for US$6.4 on average in South Korea and US$8.3 in Japan, he added.
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