China suspends imports of sugar and wax apples from Taiwan in September 2021
Context
China’s General Administration of Customs announced a suspension of imports of sugar apples and wax apples from Taiwan on September 18, 2021, with the measure taking effect two days later. China justified this measure by stating that pests – – passionvine mealybugs/planococcus minor– were identified on previous apple imports, thereby deciding to suspend the imports of these products. Taiwan viewed this measure as politically motivated, relating to ongoing tensions between Beijing and Taipei over Taiwan’s political status. This specific measure was linked to contemporaneous efforts to rename Taiwan’s office in Washington DC from “the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office” to “the Taiwan Representative Office”.
Impact
According to reporting citing data from Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture, in the year 2019 Taiwan’s sugar apple exports were valued at US$40 million, and its wax apple exports were valued at US$19 million – China accounted for around 80% of Taiwan’s fruit exports overall. Alongside pineapples (banned by China in February 2021), sugar apples and wax apples form Taiwan’s top three fruit exports.
Responses
i) Taiwanese government and industry responses.
One Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker, Lai Hui-yuan (whose district is in a major fruit growing region), responded to this measure by calling for Taiwan’s authorities to plan for further possible measures from Beijing targeting fruit – predicting that oranges could be the next target. Additionally, a prominent politician from the (pro-Beijing-leaning) Kuomintang (KMT) attacked the (pro-independence-leaning) ruling party DPP for “acting clueless” in its response to this measure.
Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, responded to this measure by directly accusing Beijing of weaponised trade, tweeting “[f]ollowing a series of military threats, the #PRC is weaponizing trade by announcing an immediate ban on #Taiwan’s custard & wax apples. This hostile move violates international trade norms! #China wants to join the high-standard #CPTPP? Is this a joke?”
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council publicly stated that “the ban is inconsistent with WTO and international trade regulations”, and Taiwan’s authorities openly considered referring this measure to the WTO. Subsequently, Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA) did raise this measure at the WTO in November 2021, during a meeting of a WTO committee responsible for sanitary/phytosanitary measures. In a statement following this move, the COA said that China had not response to its call for bilateral dialogue to resolve this issue.
(ii) Chinese government and industry responses
A spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhu Fenglian, maintained that the justification for this measure was related to food safety. China was accused of refusing to engage with Taiwan’s authorities to discuss inspection processes for its fruit exports to mainland China.
(iii) Other states’ government and industry responses
In September 2021 the Swiss Taiwan Chamber of Commerce reportedly discussed plans to begin importing Taiwan-grown apples as part of a strategy of trade diversification.
Status
In June 2023 China’s Taiwan Affairs Office announced that China would resume imports of Taiwan’s apples. This normalisation followed a meeting between the vice-chairperson of the KMT, local government officials, and Chinese counterparts, with the Taiwanese side reportedly agreeing to higher safety standards in its exports.
Reference list
Chien, H.J. & Chin, Jonathan. 2021. “China likely to ban more fruit, DPP lawmaker says.” Taipei Times. September 25. Available at: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/ taiwan/archives/2021/09/25/2003764981
Dong, X. 2021. “First pineapples, now sugar apples. Taiwan threatens to take China to WTO over new fruit import ban.” ABC News. September 21. Available at:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-21/china-taiwan-fruit-ban-may-jeopardise-application/100479612
Everington, K. 2021. “Switzerland planning on importing Taiwanese wax apples to counter China ban.” Taiwan News. September 23. Available at:
https://taiwannews.com.tw/news/4294917
General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China. 2021. “Notice of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Department of the General Administration of Customs on the suspension of the import of Taiwanese sugar apples and wax apples into the mainland.” September 18. Available at: http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/ 302249/zfxxgk/zfxxgkml34/3892452/index.html
Lianhe, Z. 2021. “Beijing bans Taiwan fruit imports: Impoverishing Taiwan to achieve reunification?” Think China. September 23. Available at:
Reuters. 2021. “China’s ban on Taiwan apple imports triggers island’s first individual WTO complaint against Beijing, sources say.” SCMP. November 4. Available at:https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3154858/chinas-ban-taiwan-apple-imports-triggers-islands-first
SCMP. 2023. “Mainland China resumes imports of Taiwanese sugar apples after 2-year ban despite cross-strait tensions.” SCMP. June 20. Available at:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mainland-china-resumes-imports-taiwanese-093000231.html
Zhang, J. 2020. “2019 Taiwan Fruit Import and Export Statistics Released, Exports to Mainland China Up 43%.” Produce Report. March 12. Available at:
Zang, J. 2021. “China Bans Imports of Sugar and Wax Apples From Taiwan.” Produce Report. September 25. Available at: https://www.producereport.com/article/china-bans-imports-sugar-wax-apples-taiwan
Zhang, M., Munroe, T., & Blanchard, B. 2021. ‘Taiwan threatens to take China to WTO in new spat over fruit’. Reuters. September 19. Available at: