China has finally sealed a fresh onion export deal with New Zealand after 10 years of negotiations, an official statement said Wednesday.

A sanitary agreement was signed at the beginning of this year, paving the way for Chinese onion exports entering the New Zealand market, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China (AQSIQ).

The New Zealand government has a very strict plant quarantine system to protect its own ecosystem, the statement read.

The AQSIQ has helped domestic onion exporters improve the level of management during the past years.

The AQSIQ vowed it will launch strict quarantine measures to ensure the quality of onion exports,

China is a world leading onion producer, with an annual onion output of 20 million tonnes. Exports account for merely 3.5 percent of its total onion production.