China grants market access to Hungarian cherries and Serbian blueberries

As part of his recent visit to Europe, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s spent time in both Hungary and Serbia during which the countries signed a number of new cooperation agreements. These included a new free trade agreement between China and Serbia, which will come into effect on July 1. Following the visits, the General Administration of Customs of China announced it will extend market access to both fresh blueberries from Serbia and fresh cherries from Hungary. This development is significant for both countries as it marks the first fresh fruit item from Hungary to gain access to the Chinese market and only the second from Serbia, after gaining access for fresh apples in October 2023. Serbia is one of the largest producers of blueberries in Europe with an annual output of approximately 7,000 tonnes. Its current top five export markets include the Netherlands, Russia, Germany, Poland and the UK. According to the announcement document, the fruit must meet a series of requirements, ...