The US is traditionally the largest export destination of China’s health foods products but slipped to the second place, behind Hong Kong.
“America, as the second largest export market, saw export value down by 12.2% in the first half of 2025. As compared to the same period in 2024, which saw a y-o-y [year-on-yea] increase of 44.1%, the value of exports to the US saw a visible decline, based on analysis, this could be an impact of tariffs related policy in the first half of the year,” said the report.
Last year, stockpiling behavior in anticipation of global tariff adjustment had beefed up China’s health foods exports to the US – a stark contrast to this year.
China’s health foods exports to Hong Kong were valued at US$303 million – equivalent to 13.5% of the total exports.
The total value of China’s health foods exports climbed 9.9% y-o-y to US$2.25 billion in the first half of 2025.
South East Asia becoming a key export destination
China’s exports to The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) continued to grow during the period, with Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia becoming the 3rd, 4th, and 5th largest health foods export destinations.
The top 10 export destinations of China’s health foods products in the first half of 2025 were mostly Asian countries, with Thailand, South Korea, The Netherlands, Japan, and The Philippines forming the remaining top 10 destinations.
Notably, the value of exports to Malaysia jumped 131.4% yoy to US$246m, which the report said could be due to regional trade agreements and tariff related factors.
Exports to the 10 countries of ASEAN as a whole reached US$663m – nearly three times higher than that of the European Union’s (EU) US$226m.
“ASEAN has become an important trade surplus region for China’s nutritional and health food products,” stated the report.
Within the EU, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy and Czech Republic were the top five EU destinations for China health foods exports. In particular, exports to Spain went up by 80.6%, which the report said has shown how China companies have cultivated new markets and diversified their presence.
In contrast, exports to Australia dropped 13.1% to US$60m. However, the overall decrease was said to be “relatively moderate due to a small base.”
Fish oil exports decline
Export value of China’s fish oil products fell 31.3% in the first half of 2025 – a stark contrast of the 42% y-o-y increase in the same period last year.
Raw material production, price fluctuation, and demand for fish oil replacement products were listed as some of the potential reasons behind the decline.
On the other hand, export value of traditional Chinese medicinal wine increased 74.1%, which showed the export potential of China traditional medicinal products.
