{"id":840833,"date":"2025-10-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=840833"},"modified":"2025-10-26T06:28:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T04:28:01","slug":"china-coming-to-south-africas-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/840833\/china-coming-to-south-africas-rescue\/","title":{"rendered":"China coming to South Africa’s rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After months of anxiety among South African fruit producers over US tariffs, China has stepped in to provide a much-needed lifeline for the country\u2019s farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Thabile Nkunjana, Senior Agricultural Economist at the National Agricultural Marketing Council, there was panic after US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs in April. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, there\u2019s great uncertainty about what the increased tariffs for South Africa\u2014which are currently at 30%\u2014mean for certain sectors of our economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some items, such as critical minerals, were exempt, Nkunjana said citrus growers in the Western Province have been highly concerned about their relationship with the US. It comes at a cost of potential job losses and a lack of new markets to explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s starting to change. China has come to the rescue, especially for the stone fruit industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNext time you eat and enjoy a South African prune, plum, peach, apricot, or even a cherry, bear in mind that these could soon be making their way to a market like China,\u201d said Nkunjana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shift follows a new stone fruit trade agreement signed<\/a> in Shanghai between South Africa\u2019s Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, and China\u2019s Minister of the General Administration of Customs, Sun Meijun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal opens the Chinese market to five types of South African stone fruit\u2014apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, and prunes\u2014for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This marks the first instance in which China has allowed access for multiple fruit types from a single country under a single agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister Steenhuisen added that it forms part of a broader strategy to make South African agriculture less dependent on traditional buyers and more responsive to new consumption patterns such as China\u2019s growing middle class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The potential is significant. The opening of the Chinese market could unlock approximately R400 million for us over the next five years, a figure which is projected to double over the next ten years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe expect the inaugural 2025\/26 export season to generate about R28 million, and R54 million in 2026\/27,\u201d said Steenhuisen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal could not have come at a better time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s demand for fruit is enormous. Last year, it imported over 21 million cartons of peaches and nectarines and 20 million cartons of plums\u2014more than South Africa\u2019s total annual export volume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe projections being communicated\u2014that this could contribute as much as R400 million to the economy over the next three to five years\u2014are encouraging,\u201d said Nkunjana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut to put it in perspective, China imported peaches and plums worth about $4.4 billion last year, or roughly R70 billion. That means there\u2019s still huge room for growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, competition will be tough. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to compete with our counterparts from Chile, Argentina, Australia, and the USA,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut South African products are well regarded around the world. Consumers recognise their quality, so in any fair market, our products can compete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nkunjana believes the agreement will do more than boost exports. It will also support jobs and investment. Projections suggest it could create around 350 new direct jobs on farms and in packhouses, and about 600 in total when including transport and packaging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA market like this stimulates production. The more demand there is, the more incentive farmers have to expand,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we perform well in the Chinese market, we\u2019re likely to see increased production across all the regions that produce stone fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa is already the largest stone fruit producer in Africa, with major operations in the Western Cape, Limpopo, Northern Cape, and Eastern Cape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is definitely room for growth. However, he noted that the stone fruit industry is still smaller than the citrus industry. \u201cWith this market access, that will likely change,\u201d Nkunjana said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said infrastructure improvements are making a difference. \u201cThere are positive reports about efficiency at the Cape Town ports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf our logistics systems work properly, from packing houses to shipping, we can move products efficiently, which gives us an edge over competitors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond stone fruit, the partnership with China is growing. During discussions with Minister Meijun, Steenhuisen raised the resumption of beef trade from certain South African regions and invited a Chinese inspection team to visit cherry and blueberry farms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChina has been South Africa\u2019s largest trading partner for more than a decade, and our bilateral trade continues to deepen,\u201d Steenhuisen said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe value China\u2019s ongoing cooperation and the shared commitment to exploring opportunities within our agriculture sector.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Nkunjana, the new deal brings relief and optimism. \u201cWhen President Trump first announced those tariffs, things looked horrible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cNow, with China opening up and other regions like the Middle East showing promise, we\u2019re optimistic. This deal could not have come at a better time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After months of anxiety among South African fruit producers over US tariffs, China has stepped in to provide a much-needed lifeline for the country\u2019s farmers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":816083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[423,853,23897,22430],"class_list":["post-840833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-china","tag-south-africa","tag-stone-fruit-trade-agreement","tag-the-national-agricultural-marketing-council-namc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840833"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840837,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840833\/revisions\/840837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}