China increases camellia oil production to reduce import dependence

China’s annual camellia oil production has surged by 53 percent since 2020 to reach 1.1 million metric tons annually, following a dedicated three-year, 787,000-hectare expansion of specialized forests. The past three years also saw 647,000 hectares of tea-oil camellia with low yield transformed, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said. The total plantation area for the woody plants with economic importance has reached 5 million hectares — that’s a land area equivalent to the size of Costa Rica. China produces between 90 and 95 percent of camellia oil globally. However, it still imports over 10 million tons of edible vegetable oils each year, with nearly 70 percent of its supply dependent on foreign sources, according to official data. Thus, further developing the domestic camellia oil sector is seen as a crucial strategy to reduce this reliance. To boost camellia oil production, China issued a dedicated 2023-25 action plan and introduced subsidies for tea-oil ...