Many new, significant opportunities are emerging in the Chinese coconut industry as the living standard of Chinese consumers increases and the market develops. Specialists point out that the Chinese coconut industry has great potential, but development also faces many challenges. The current surface area devoted to coconut plantation in China is around 40 thousand hectares, with more than 90% located in Hainan, which is the only industrial-scale coconut production area in China.
The annual coconut production volume in Hainan is around 210 million coconuts, which is still far below market demand. China imports large quantities of coconuts from Southeast Asia to satisfy market demand. The Philippines and Thailand have already put restrictions on coconut export to China. Other main coconut exporters to China are Vietnam and Indonesia. However, these countries also begin to limit coconut export to China as the technological standard in these countries improves.
Coconuts
In China, however, the demand for coconuts grows daily as economic conditions improve. There are many difficulties for the Chinese coconut industry, for example, there is only one product variety and the effort to popularize other coconut varieties is weak. Farmers have limited knowledge of coconut plantation management, which influences the expected yield per coconut tree. The coconut processing industry is similarly singular and the added value is low. Furthermore, most coconut processing factories are concentrated in the same area. All these problems influence the overall product quality of Chinese coconuts and gives rise to food safety problems.
Furthermore, the coconut industry lacks advanced technology or skilled labor; there is little knowledge about intense development and risk reduction; equipment is outdated and the level of mechanization is low; there is little return on investment the threshold for loans is high; there is little exchange of research and key technologies await a breakthrough in development; there is a lack of standardization and a discrepancy with plantation practices; sales practices are backward and market expansion is weak; inspection facilities and technologies are also backward; and the system for product quality standardization is less than ideal.
Source: chinanews.com