Source premium cherries for China: a 2026/27 season guide for importers

WITS, which publishes UN Comtrade data, reports China's 2025 imports of fresh cherries (HS 080920) as follows. The figures describe recorded trade, not current availability or prices, and other statistical series can differ — use one series consistently when you compare years.

• Chile supplied about 98.7% of the 2025 quantity. A programme that depends on one origin carries that origin's weather, logistics and protocol risk.
• Trade data cannot tell you which exporter or orchard is registered for China this season — that is a separate check (see below).

For the 2026/27 season, trade press reported the first air shipments of Chilean cherries arriving in Shanghai on 17 October 2026. Southern-hemisphere supply to China is usually concentrated between November and February, with demand building towards Spring Festival (6 February 2027). Exact timing depends on origin, region, variety and whether fruit travels by air or sea, so ask each supplier for a week-by-week packing and shipping plan rather than relying on a calendar.

On 8 September 2026 the South African Government announced that a protocol opening China to South African cherries had been signed. A signed protocol is a starting point, not proof that a given orchard, packhouse or volume is eligible: exports operate under the protocol's registration and supervision requirements, and only registered sites on the current lists can ship.

Status, checked 25 October 2026 — pending verification: GACC Announcement 2026 No. 140, dated 21 September 2026, sets the phytosanitary requirements under which South African fresh cherries may be imported, and requires orchards, packhouses and treatment facilities to be registered and listed on GACC's website. GACC's fresh-fruit access catalogue (page updated 19 October 2026) did not yet list cherries for South Africa when we checked, no registered list was found, and Reuters reporting of 21 October 2026 said China still had to confirm that South Africa had met all requirements before a first shipment, with South Africa's agriculture minister expecting approval by the end of the year. Do not plan volume on South African cherries for China until that confirmation and the registered lists are published.

GACC's Measures for the Inspection, Quarantine and Supervision of Imported Fruit set the baseline. Before signing a fruit import contract, the importer must apply for quarantine approval and obtain an Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Permit (检疫许可证). The original phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country's official authority is provided at declaration; for container shipments it must show the container number, and where a bilateral protocol exists it must also meet the protocol's certificate requirements.

On arrival, customs checks that goods and documents match, inspects for pests, soil, branches and leaves, and may take samples for laboratory testing. Fruit that fails can be treated, returned or destroyed, and GACC may suspend imports from an orchard, packhouse or region after quarantine pests or residue findings.

• Cartons must show, in Chinese or English, the fruit name, place of origin and the packhouse name or code.
• Fruit not listed on the phytosanitary certificate may not be mixed into the consignment.
• Residues of toxic and harmful substances must not exceed China's food-safety standards — ask for recent residue results measured against Chinese limits.
• USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service notes that facilities exporting fresh fruit to China register with GACC's Department of Animal and Plant Quarantine (DAPQ) through their own government's agency, and that DAPQ publishes market-access lists (GAIN report CH2025-0252, 3 February 2026).
• Under GACC Announcement 2025 No. 219 (in force 15 December 2025), importers of agricultural products on GACC's catalogue of products needing officially recommended registration must buy from overseas enterprises whose registration status is normal, and enter each enterprise's Chinese registration number in the customs declaration (licence category code 302). Registered enterprises can be checked in GACC's registration list or the "互联网+海关" quarantine information query.
• Overseas food-manufacturer registration moved from GACC Order No. 248 to Order No. 280 on 1 June 2026; Order No. 280 leaves registration of producers of primary edible agricultural products to separate GACC rules, so fresh-fruit orchards and packhouses follow the plant-quarantine registration set by each protocol.
• GACC Order No. 283 amends the imported-fruit measures from 1 November 2026; the quarantine permit before the contract remains. Check the text in force on your contract date.
• Ask each exporter for its orchard and packhouse registration numbers for the current season, then check them yourself against GACC's current lists or through your customs broker. We do not state or confirm registration status.

Chinese retail, e-commerce and wholesale channels often price cherries by calibre and appearance. Writing the following into one request lets every supplier quote the same product.

• Agree who records pulp temperature at packing and loading, and ask for logger data for each container or air shipment.
• Define arrival inspection: where it happens, who performs it, which sample size and how photos and measurements support a claim.
• Ask how long fruit is held between harvest, packing and departure, and how that differs between air and sea programmes.
• Confirm how the importer's designated storage meets customs supervision before release — fruit may not be moved or sold until inspection is complete.

Chinese requirements, protocols and registration lists change. Confirm every line below for the specific orchard, packhouse, season and consignment before a contract is signed — with GACC or the port customs office, your customs broker and the exporter's official authority. Our team asks suppliers for this evidence; we do not certify or approve it.

Submitting a request is free for buyers. A person on our team reviews the specification, volume, destination and declared programme value (assisted sourcing starts at USD 250,000 per year or season, not per shipment), clarifies gaps with you, then approaches relevant sources on your behalf without disclosing your identity. Offers are laid out on the same basis, each price labelled as a supplier quote or an estimate. A supplier is introduced only after review and with your approval; there is no direct buyer–supplier contact before that, and no match or supply is promised.

• Importer of record and who holds the quarantine permit and files the customs declaration
• Variety, colour group, minimum calibre in mm, firmness and stem requirements
• Preferred origin, or open to any origin with current GACC access
• Season volume, weekly arrivals and destination port in China
• Packaging, labelling and air or sea transport
• Documents: phytosanitary certificate per protocol, registration numbers, residue results
• Incoterm, currency, quote validity and the arrival inspection and claims procedure

Our team turns these points into one reviewed request and approaches suitable suppliers on your behalf. Buyers pay nothing; sourcing programmes start from USD 250,000 per year or season, and every requirement is confirmed per shipment rather than assumed.