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China's Orange Juice Supply to Rely on Imports
The supply of orange juice in China will continue to rely on imports over the next five years though its domestic citrus output is expected to top 12 million tons annually, said a senior official with the Ministry of Agriculture Monday.
Most citrus fruits are sold fresh on the Chinese market with only 5 percent processed, said Liu Xinlu, deputy director of the Cropping Administration Department under the ministry, at the International Citrus Symposium that opened here Monday.
Orange juice sold on the Chinese market is mostly made from raw juice imported from the United States or Brazil, Liu said.
China is improving its citrus production industry but the gap between domestic producers and overseas counterparts still exists, especially in the processing and storage, said Qi Jingfa, vice- minister of agriculture.
The country now produces 10 million tons of citrus fruit annually with 200,000 tons for export. China imported 62,000 tons of citrus fruit last year and about 8,500 tons of orange juice from 1998 to 1999.
The consumption of orange juice will increase with the living tempo speeding up, as well as that of sweet oranges, and its import will rise in the off season, said Deng Xiuxin, a professor from Huazhong Agricultural University.
However, the market for large-scale imports of fresh and processed orange products is not fully developed, though the recent trade agreement between China and the United States has opened the Chinese market to imports, said Thomas H. Spreen, a professor from the University of Florida.
The large population in large coastal cities in China will provide a significant outlet for imported citrus products, he added.
"Orange producing countries in Asia, including China, are expected to expand production but nearly all of the growth will be consumed by the domestic market," Spreen said.
The two-day International Citrus Symposium was jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
About 170 experts from 20 countries and regions, such as China, the United States, Brazil, Hong Kong and Taiwan, attended the symposium.
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