(Yicai) May 22 -- China's trade deficit of fruits and aquatic products has continued to increase over recent years due to consumers seeking higher quality and diversity, according to industry insiders.

Imported fruits have seized about one-fourth of the Chinese market, Zhu Yongli, founder of fruit industry services firm Ifreshair, said at the Food2China Expo yesterday. The country is stepping up the local development of durian, cherry, and other fruits, he added.

Imports of tropical fruits, including durian and banana, reached about USD15 billion last year, Zhu noted. Exports of locally produced fruit are becoming more diversified and are no longer limited to traditional types with the addition of deep-processing, new varieties, and a growing number of export destinations, he said.

China's fruit imports are growing quicker than exports, Zhu pointed out, adding that this has led to an expansion of the fruit trade deficit and posed pressure on the country's fruit and vegetable industry. There is lots of space for improvement in the development of domestic production, he noted.

China's agricultural products companies are improving local development of cherry, durian, and other fruit types, Zhu said. Domestic cherry varieties' planting quantity and scale are rapidly growing, with Liaoning, Shandong, Hebei, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as core production areas, he added.

China's imports of aquatic products also top exports, with such imports jumping 10.6 percent to 5 million tons last year from the prior one, while exports rose 0.1 percent to 3.7 million tons, said Peng Ying, project director of the Guangzhou International Fishery & Seafood Expo's organizational committee.

As one of the world's biggest consumers of aquatic products, China has a massive demand for them, Peng noted, adding that such imports will likely keep surging over the next five years.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Martin Kadiev