South Africa has gained access to the Chinese market for its fresh cherries for the first time.
The phytosanitary protocol signed in Beijing on 8 September 2026 opens up a new commercial opportunity for a sector that is still small compared with Chile’s, but is expanding rapidly and has one distinctive feature: the possibility of reaching China between two and three weeks before the large volumes arriving from Chile.
The agreement represents one of the objectives pursued in recent years by the South African fruit industry and officially allows the country’s cherries to enter the world’s leading import market.
The agreement was signed during the ninth Ministerial Meeting on sanitary and phytosanitary measures by South African Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp and Sun Meijun, Minister of China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC).
The signing concludes a process involving technical assessments, inspections and activities required to meet the phytosanitary requirements imposed by Beijing.
Aucamp described the result as an important milestone for national agriculture. It is in fact the first time that South Africa has managed to conclude two agricultural market access protocols with China in less than a year.
The previous agreement, signed in October 2025, covered five categories of stone fruit: apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums and fresh European plums.
The figures explain why access to China was considered strategic. According to official data released by the South African Government, in 2025 China imported approximately 586.900 tonnes of cherries, worth close to 3,3 billion dollars (approximately 2,86 billion euros).
The Asian country remains by far the world’s leading market for this fruit and accounts for a significant share of trade from the Southern Hemisphere in the months leading up to Chinese New Year.
For South Africa, the opening therefore offers an opportunity to further diversify commercial destinations and, at the same time, support the growth of domestic production.
The authorities also estimate that the new market could encourage investment in orchards, infrastructure, packing facilities and logistics. With increased activity across the supply chain, around 600 new jobs could be created.
The phytosanitary approval comes at a favourable time on the tariff front as well.
Since 1 May 2026, China has in fact applied a temporary zero-tariff regime for South African products that comply with the relevant rules of origin. The measure will initially remain in force until 30 April 2028.
For cherries, the South African Government stressed that this condition allows entry into the Chinese market at a 0% tariff rate, strengthening the product’s competitiveness compared with other suppliers.
To benefit from the measure, exporters will have to comply with the applicable rules of origin and present the relevant certificate when the goods enter China.
The size of the South African cherry industry remains far below that of the world’s leading exporters, starting with Chile. However, the growth in cultivated area shows a sector that is clearly developing.
According to Hortgro, the representative body of South Africa’s deciduous fruit industry, the area planted with cherry trees increased from just 185 in 2012 to 819 in 2024.
A survey conducted in 2025 and covering 99% of the country’s orchards found that around 58% of South African cherries are destined for export, while 28% are marketed domestically.
In the 2024/25 season, the United Kingdom absorbed 60% of exports, followed by the European Union with 18% and the Middle East with 12%.
Hortgro reported a 111% increase in cherry exports, reaching 487.871 boxes, one of the most significant increases among the various categories of South African stone fruit.
One of the reasons for the expansion is also the entry into production of new hectares planted in previous years.
In terms of volume, South Africa is not yet a competitor comparable with Chile.
The Southern Hemisphere Fresh Fruit Trade Statistical Yearbook 2026 indicates that in the 2024/25 season Chile accounted for around 97% of Southern Hemisphere cherry exports, exceeding 625 thousand tonnes. In the same period, South Africa exported fewer than one thousand.
The most interesting variable, however, is not volume, but the calendar.
According to representatives of the South African industry, some production areas in the country can reach the Chinese market between two and three weeks before the arrival of the largest Chilean volumes.
The South African strategy, at least in the initial phase, therefore appears to be aimed not so much at challenging Chile in terms of large volumes, but at securing a specific space in the early part of the Chinese season.
With the expansion of plantings and the entry into full production of younger orchards, the development of this strategy will be one of the factors to watch in the coming Southern Hemisphere seasons.
Access for cherries is part of a broader project through which South Africa aims to strengthen its fruit and vegetable presence in China.
In October 2025, the two countries had already signed the protocol for the simultaneous opening of the market to apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums and fresh European plums.
In February 2026, the first major shipment under that agreement then departed: around 20.000 boxes of plums, mainly the African Delight and Ruby Star varieties, were shipped from Franschhoek to China.
In the meantime, cherries had become the next priority objective. At the beginning of 2026, the South African Government had announced its intention to conclude the protocol during the year, identifying the 2026/27 season as a possible starting point for the first shipments.
The commercial push does not end with cherries. During his visit to China, Willie Aucamp confirmed that negotiations to allow access for fresh South African blueberries have also reached an advanced stage.
China has already sent South Africa a draft phytosanitary protocol for review. The minister asked the technical groups to accelerate their examination of the document and coordinate their comments, with the aim of trying to conclude the agreement by the end of 2026.
According to Aucamp, there are still numerous opportunities to develop between the two countries. The blueberry dossier forms part of the strategy to progressively expand the number of South African agricultural products authorised to enter the Chinese market.
During the mission to Beijing, the minister also met Chinese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Zhang Zhu. Topics discussed included cooperation on biosecurity, with particular reference to foot-and-mouth disease, and new market access opportunities for South African agricultural products.
Aucamp also took part in the South Africa-China Fruit Trade Business Forum, organised by FruitSA to connect South African exporters with Chinese operators, buyers and importers.
The arrival of South African cherries in China does not immediately change the balance dominated by Chile, but it adds a new Southern Hemisphere producing country to the most important and profitable market for the sector.
South Africa starts from much smaller dimensions, but can rely on three significant factors: expanding planted area, zero-tariff access and a commercial window that can precede the arrival of large Chilean volumes.
The true impact of the market opening will emerge in the coming seasons, when exporters will be able to measure the response of the Chinese market in practice and a growing number of young orchards will reach full production.
For the entire Southern Hemisphere cherry supply chain, and particularly for Chile, monitoring the development of new origins such as South Africa will therefore become increasingly important. China remains the centre of global cherry trade, but the number of countries seeking to capture a share of it continues to grow.
Source: www.diariofruticola.cl
Image source: Stefano Lugli
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