China Announces Agricultural Measures for Taiwan; Ministry of Agriculture: Diversify Risks and Market Layout
In response to China's newly announced measures for Taiwan, Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture highlighted the high risks of the Chinese market, citing past unnotified import bans. Taiwan will continue to rely on advanced cold chain logistics and diversify its agricultural exports to high-end markets like Japan and the US.
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- 📰 Published: April 12, 2026 at 17:56
- 🔍 Collected: April 12, 2026 at 19:00 (1h 4m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 20, 2026 at 01:24 (174h 24m after Collected)
In response to the 10 major measures targeting Taiwan announced by China, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a press release stating that China has repeatedly suspended the import of Taiwanese agricultural and fishery products without warning, without prior notice, and by ignoring consultations. This practice completely violates international norms and lacks scientific basis, clearly showing that the Chinese market entails high risk and uncertainty. The Ministry called on the Chinese side to comply with international trade norms and conventions, conduct scientific consultations with Taiwan, and resume the import of Taiwanese agricultural products as soon as possible to smooth cross-strait trade.
The Ministry of Agriculture detailed that China has repeatedly, without warning or prior notice, suspended the import of multiple Taiwanese agricultural and fishery products, including pineapples, sugar apples, citrus fruits, and grouper. Furthermore, the Chinese side has ignored Taiwan's repeated requests for consultations to resume cross-strait agricultural trade, severely impacting farmers' incomes.
The Ministry further explained that China comprehensively suspended the import of Taiwanese grouper starting in June 2022. Taiwan utilized the formal mechanism of the "Cross-Strait Agreement on Cooperation in Inspection and Quarantine of Agricultural Products" to detail its grouper aquaculture management measures to the Chinese side and provided a registered list of qualified grouper aquaculture farms for export to China. However, to date, the Chinese side has not responded, merely announcing a partial export list without providing relevant explanations for the published data.
Additionally, regarding China's mention of "studying the construction of docks and berths in qualified areas to serve Taiwanese distant-water fishing vessels for docking and landing distant-water catches."
The Ministry of Agriculture responded that Taiwan manages its distant-water fishing vessels through regulations such as the Fisheries Act and distant-water fisheries laws. Replenishment of fishing vessels at foreign ports must consider industry needs, as well as cooperation and information-sharing relationships with port states to jointly combat "Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated" (IUU) fishing. Moreover, Taiwan and China are competitors in distant-water fisheries; therefore, Taiwanese fishing vessels should continue to dock at ports of various countries that comply with Taiwanese regulations and cooperation needs, to facilitate distant-water fishery management.
In recent years, Taiwan has actively promoted the diversification of agricultural export markets. According to Ministry statistics, taking fresh fruits and vegetables as an example, the proportion exported to China dropped from a peak of 73.0% in 2019 to merely 1.3% in 2022. Although China subsequently resumed the import of some fresh fruit items, increasing the proportion slightly to 12.6% in 2025, it remains significantly lower than in 2019.
In addition, pineapple exports were originally highly dependent on the Chinese market. Through the joint efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture and farmers to expand into the Japanese market, the volume of pineapples exported to Japan increased from 2,160 metric tons in 2020 to 16,014 metric tons in 2025, making Japan the largest export destination for Taiwanese pineapples. This has also driven the growth of pineapple exports to high-end markets such as Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Agriculture continues to improve the quality of grouper through scientific management and cold chain construction, continuously exporting to markets including the United States, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Guam every year.
The Ministry of Agriculture detailed that China has repeatedly, without warning or prior notice, suspended the import of multiple Taiwanese agricultural and fishery products, including pineapples, sugar apples, citrus fruits, and grouper. Furthermore, the Chinese side has ignored Taiwan's repeated requests for consultations to resume cross-strait agricultural trade, severely impacting farmers' incomes.
The Ministry further explained that China comprehensively suspended the import of Taiwanese grouper starting in June 2022. Taiwan utilized the formal mechanism of the "Cross-Strait Agreement on Cooperation in Inspection and Quarantine of Agricultural Products" to detail its grouper aquaculture management measures to the Chinese side and provided a registered list of qualified grouper aquaculture farms for export to China. However, to date, the Chinese side has not responded, merely announcing a partial export list without providing relevant explanations for the published data.
Additionally, regarding China's mention of "studying the construction of docks and berths in qualified areas to serve Taiwanese distant-water fishing vessels for docking and landing distant-water catches."
The Ministry of Agriculture responded that Taiwan manages its distant-water fishing vessels through regulations such as the Fisheries Act and distant-water fisheries laws. Replenishment of fishing vessels at foreign ports must consider industry needs, as well as cooperation and information-sharing relationships with port states to jointly combat "Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated" (IUU) fishing. Moreover, Taiwan and China are competitors in distant-water fisheries; therefore, Taiwanese fishing vessels should continue to dock at ports of various countries that comply with Taiwanese regulations and cooperation needs, to facilitate distant-water fishery management.
In recent years, Taiwan has actively promoted the diversification of agricultural export markets. According to Ministry statistics, taking fresh fruits and vegetables as an example, the proportion exported to China dropped from a peak of 73.0% in 2019 to merely 1.3% in 2022. Although China subsequently resumed the import of some fresh fruit items, increasing the proportion slightly to 12.6% in 2025, it remains significantly lower than in 2019.
In addition, pineapple exports were originally highly dependent on the Chinese market. Through the joint efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture and farmers to expand into the Japanese market, the volume of pineapples exported to Japan increased from 2,160 metric tons in 2020 to 16,014 metric tons in 2025, making Japan the largest export destination for Taiwanese pineapples. This has also driven the growth of pineapple exports to high-end markets such as Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Agriculture continues to improve the quality of grouper through scientific management and cold chain construction, continuously exporting to markets including the United States, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Guam every year.