China to lift ban on Taiwan fish, citrus fruit to improve cross-strait relations

Beijing [China], April 29 : China will lift its ban on the import of several agricultural and fishery products from Taiwan, based on scientific assessments, Central News Agency Taiwan reported quoting Zhao Zenglian, Vice Minister of China's General Administration of Customs on Sunday.

Specifically, China will reopen to imports of citrus fruit and two types of fish from Taiwan that meet quarantine requirements, Zhao said, without giving any dates for the lifting of the ban or any further details.

CNA reported that Zhao announced the decision while hosting Kuomintang (KMT) legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi and another 16 KMT lawmakers during their visit to the customs bureau as part of the KMT delegation's three-day trip to China, which is aimed at improving cross-strait relations.

The Chinese government is willing to communicate further with the KMT and relevant authorities on resuming imports of Taiwan agricultural and fishery products, based on the shared political foundation of upholding the 1992 consensus and opposing Taiwan's independence, Zhao said.

China's ban on imports from Taiwan was imposed on August 3, 2022, just hours after United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei for a brief visit.

The list of banned imports included citrus fruit, which China said were infested with mealybugs and contaminated with excessive pesticide residues. The other products were refrigerated largehead hairtail fish and frozen horse mackerel, China said at the time, citing recurrent detection of the COVID-19 virus on the fish packaging.

On Sunday, Taiwan's Acting Agriculture Minister Chen Junne-jih told CNA that his ministry had yet to receive an official notice from China of its decision to lift the ban.

Any communication on the issue should be made via the cross-strait quarantine platform, as has been done in the past, Chen said.

Taiwan's exports of pomelos totalled 7,062 metric tons in 2021, with 4,821 metric tons shipped to China, according to government statistics, Central News Agency Taiwan reported.

After China imposed the ban on Taiwan citrus fruit, however, Taiwan's total pomelo exports dropped to 2,909 metric tons in 2022, with Hong Kong importing 2,623 metric tons, the data shows.

Last year, Taiwan's pomelo exports totalled approximately 2,709 metric tons, with Hong Kong again being the largest importer, buying 1,823 metric tons, according to the data.

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