South African cherry producers have secured access to China for the first time after Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp signed an agreement in Beijing this week.

Aucamp signed the agreement with a senior Chinese government official, Sun Meijun. The agreement gives South African cherries 0% tariff access to China, meaning the fruit can enter the market duty-free.

According to the Department of Agriculture, China is the world’s largest cherry importer.

The department expects the opening of the market to encourage investment in South African cherry production and support about 600 additional jobs.

Aucamp said, “We truly appreciate China’s efforts to speed up our market access requests for South African agriculture products.”

The agreement builds on earlier negotiations under former agriculture minister John Steenhuisen, who was replaced by Aucamp in June 2026. In October last year, Steenhuisen signed an agreement in Shanghai securing Chinese market access for apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, and prunes. He also invited a Chinese technical team to inspect local cherry and blueberry orchards and packhouses.

Aucamp also met China’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhang Zhu, while visiting the country this week, where the two reaffirmed cooperation on biosecurity, including foot and mouth disease, and on further market access for South African products.