What fresh produce does China export?

China ships garlics, gingers, apples, pears, mandarins, and onions. The calendar on this page gives each one's export window month by month.

When does China export apples?

China ships apples October–January, with February–May and September at the shoulders. These are export weeks out of the origin, not arrival weeks in your market.

Which ports does China export fresh produce from?

Qingdao, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. The load port is worth knowing because the lane's transit — and so the shelf life left on arrival — is measured from it.

Season calendar

China fresh produce export calendar

When China ships garlic, ginger, apples, pears, mandarins and onions, month by month, and why most of it leaves through Qingdao.

Load ports: Qingdao, Shanghai, and Shenzhen
Produce covered: Garlic Ginger Apple Pear Mandarin Onion

Peak — shipping in volume Shoulder — opening or closing Export windows out of the origin, not arrival weeks. Add the lane's transit.

China fresh produce export calendar: which produce ships in which month.
Produce	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Garlic June–November peak · December–May shoulder	January: Shoulder	February: Shoulder	March: Shoulder	April: Shoulder	May: Shoulder	June: Peak	July: Peak	August: Peak	September: Peak	October: Peak	November: Peak	December: Shoulder
Ginger November–March peak · April–October shoulder	January: Peak	February: Peak	March: Peak	April: Shoulder	May: Shoulder	June: Shoulder	July: Shoulder	August: Shoulder	September: Shoulder	October: Shoulder	November: Peak	December: Peak
Apple October–January peak · February–May, September shoulder	January: Peak	February: Shoulder	March: Shoulder	April: Shoulder	May: Shoulder	June: Not shipping	July: Not shipping	August: Not shipping	September: Shoulder	October: Peak	November: Peak	December: Peak
Pear September–December peak · January–April shoulder	January: Shoulder	February: Shoulder	March: Shoulder	April: Shoulder	May: Not shipping	June: Not shipping	July: Not shipping	August: Not shipping	September: Peak	October: Peak	November: Peak	December: Peak
Mandarin November–January peak · February, October shoulder	January: Peak	February: Shoulder	March: Not shipping	April: Not shipping	May: Not shipping	June: Not shipping	July: Not shipping	August: Not shipping	September: Not shipping	October: Shoulder	November: Peak	December: Peak
Onion April–July peak · March, August–September shoulder	January: Not shipping	February: Not shipping	March: Shoulder	April: Peak	May: Peak	June: Peak	July: Peak	August: Shoulder	September: Shoulder	October: Not shipping	November: Not shipping	December: Not shipping

Last reviewed August 2026. Windows are editorial ranges for a normal year, not a published schedule, and they are export weeks out of China rather than arrival weeks in your market.

China is the origin most importers meet as a price rather than as a programme. It is the largest exporter of garlic and of ginger in the world by an enormous margin, and a large exporter of apples, pears and easy-peelers into Southeast Asia. Shandong is most of that in one province — Jinxiang for garlic, Anqiu for ginger, Yantai for apples — and Qingdao is the port nearly all of it leaves through. When a European buyer is quoted Spanish or Argentine garlic, the Chinese price is what the quote is being measured against.

Almost everything here is a storage crop, so the windows below are shipping seasons rather than harvests. Garlic is lifted in early summer and sold from cold store for the twelve months after it; apples and pears do the same from autumn. What moves those windows is the release of stored volume and the annual price rather than the weather, which makes this the one origin on the calendar where the interesting variable is commercial. The cargo itself is forgiving: garlic, ginger and onions all keep for months, and what damages them in a container is humidity rather than a day or two of transit.

Garlic

June–November peak · December–May shoulder

Jinxiang lifts in May and June and new-crop garlic starts shipping almost immediately, which is why the peak below sits in the second half of the year. From about December it is stored garlic, and it keeps shipping until the next harvest — so the shoulder band is every remaining month rather than a few weeks either side.

China garlic: window and arrival weeks · Garlic across every origin

Ginger

November–March peak · April–October shoulder

Shandong lifts ginger in October and November, so fresh new-crop rhizome ships from about November through the winter and stored ginger carries the rest of the year. There is no month without Chinese ginger; there are months in which all of it is a year old.

China ginger: window and arrival weeks · Ginger across every origin

Apple

October–January peak · February–May, September shoulder Varieties: Fuji

Shandong and Shaanxi harvest from September, the export peak runs from October into the new year, and stored fruit ships through the spring. Fuji is most of what leaves.

China apple: window and arrival weeks · Apple across every origin

Pear

September–December peak · January–April shoulder Varieties: Ya, Fragrant

Ya pear and Fragrant pear are harvested from August and ship from about September into the new year, then out of storage through the spring. China is by a wide margin the largest pear exporter in the world.

China pear: window and arrival weeks · Pear across every origin

Mandarin

November–January peak · February, October shoulder

Roughly November to January, out of Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangxi. The window lands on the Northern Hemisphere winter alongside Spain and Morocco, but the volume goes to Southeast Asia and Russia rather than west.

China mandarin: window and arrival weeks · Mandarin across every origin

Onion

April–July peak · March, August–September shoulder

Roughly April to July, into the gap between the Northern Hemisphere’s stored crop running out and its new one being lifted. The volume goes to Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea on short lanes.

China onion: window and arrival weeks · Onion across every origin

FAQ

What fresh produce does China export?: China ships garlics, gingers, apples, pears, mandarins, and onions. The calendar on this page gives each one's export window month by month.
When does China export apples?: China ships apples October–January, with February–May and September at the shoulders. These are export weeks out of the origin, not arrival weeks in your market.
Which ports does China export fresh produce from?: Qingdao, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. The load port is worth knowing because the lane's transit — and so the shelf life left on arrival — is measured from it.

Importing produce out of China? Trackberry tracks those containers and reads the paperwork that arrives with them, in one place. See how it works for produce importers, or book a 20-minute chat.