The Netherlands has secured mandate to export apples to China following the signing of a customs protocol dating from May 14, 2025.
China’s General Administration of Customs reiterated that the protocol covers quality requirements that the European source will ably meet.
The apple protocol is lookalike to the existing one that covers pear imports from the Netherlands into China.
Holland’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature, alongside China’s Customs linked the protocol to expanding quality apple assortment for consumers.
Amsterdam is entering a major market that besides being the biggest apple exporter also enjoys a high import record.
China ranks as the 15th biggest importer of the fruit globally as of 2023, at a value approximately $181.1 million.
Although Beijing reduced its overall imports by -16.1% in 2023 from 2022, it is still an important destination for emerging origins.
Exclusive Source
In its part, China will enjoy apples from a European Union (EU) member where stringent production conditions are in force.
Although only 3% of apples in the Netherlands are organically grown, their exclusive reach in the EU market are phytosanitary bespoke.
Furthermore, the country will bring some competitively priced novel varieties to the Far-east such as Elstar, Jonagold and Conference. The first strain is quite popular and represents 42% of all domestic production.
The only limitation is the fact that apple output has been downsizing in Holland in the past decade, starting 2012.
According to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), 2024 production was bound to drop 12% from adverse weather.
The branching out into China could however reboot shrinking profitability, for the large consumer base there will ensure perpetual demand. Currently, Germany, the UK, Scandinavia and eastern Europe make up the exclusive regional market of apples from the Netherlands. And as the following statistics indicate, markets outside the EU are minor and hence China’s chance.
The Netherlands Apples Statistics
Despite being a major re-exporter of dried fruits, the Netherlands nevertheless remains a medium size apple origin market. Its apple production is 2% that of the entire Europe, at over 197,000 tonnes per annum. This margin has been decreasing since 2011 due to an acreage decline from 8,270 hectares (ha) in 2011 to a 5,550-ha estimate in 2024.
How has apple production morphed in Holland since 1960?
Apples output in the Netherlands showed much resilience in its 1960s infancy before dropping substantially in the 2000s. According to the Helgi Library, production moved from over 200,000 tonnes in the 1960s to highs of over 600,000 tonnes in the 1990s. After 2000, harvests shrunk to the 400,000-tonne mark and then to below 300,000 tonnes in the early 2020s.
Are there apple export markets outside Europe for the Netherlands?
In 2023, 14 of the non-European import destinations averaged meager shipments of between 6 and 461 kg from the Netherlands, per the World Bank. Only Tunisia at 1,315 kg and Suriname at 2,678 kg made more than a tonne in apple imports from this origin. In comparison, Germany led imports with a whopping 1,0127,760 kg in 2023.
Is the Netherlands a net apple importer?
Holland ranked 14th in apple imports in 2023 ahead of China, at a value worth approximately $186.5 million.