China exported health foods worth US$623 milion to the United States last year, down from US$730 million in 2024, following a nearly 60% jump from US$457 million the year before. The market share of China health foods exported to the United States also fell from 17.1% in 2024 to 13.5% in 2025.
This is according to a report by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products (CCCMHPIE) released last month.
The report attributed the decline between 2024 and 2025 to changing trade policies and U.S. trade tariffs.
Notably, U.S. health foods exports to China rose 8.6% year-on-year to US$1.65 bilion in 2025, resulting in a US$1.03 billion trade deficit for China in this category last year.
Hong Kong was the second largest export destination for Mainland China’s health foods. However, as was the case with the United States, exports to Hong Kong has seen a downward trend in recent years.
Last year, the value of health foods exported to Hong Kong was US$605 million, down from US$614 million in 2024 and US$729 million in 2023. China’s market share of health foods exports in Hong Kong also dropped from 18.1% in 2023 to 13.1% in 2025.
This decline also reflected the increasing uncertainty in China’s traditional core markets, the report noted.
‘Stable trade relations’ with EU
In the European Union, China’s health foods exports reached US$463 million last year. The top three export destinations were the Netherlands, Germany and Spain, with exports to these countries valued at US$147 million, US$103 million and US$47 million, respectively. Among the three, exports to Germany saw a slight year-on-year decline of 2.9%.
“Trade relations between China and the EU remained stable, however, it is facing an increasingly stringent regulatory standards and compliance requirements,” according to the CCCMHPIE report.
ASEAN: China’s key trade surplus partner
In contrast, China’s exports to South East Asia, specifically the The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), jumped 28.2% to reach US$1.23 billion.
With this, ASEAN has also become a key trade surplus partner for China in the health foods sector.
The report noted that the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement was crucial in promoting health foods trade between China and ASEAN countries. The RCEP is a free trade agreement between 15 countries and also involves Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia were the top three export destinations for China’s health foods companies last year, with products worth US$359 million, US$197 million and US$179 million exported to these countries, respectively.
A key highlight is how the value of China’s exports into Malaysia and Vietnam had jumped 55.2% and 79.5% last year.
“The significant increase in exports to Malaysia was partly due to tariff reduction and trade facilitation measures,” the report noted.
This has established Malaysia and Vietnam the third and fourth largest importers of China’s health foods, only behind the United States and Hong Kong.
Except for Thailand, China’s health foods exports to other ASEAN countries saw varying levels of growth last year.
Fish oil exports down, medicinal wine up
China’s fish oil exports shrank 25.6% to US$415 million last year, while that of Chinese medicinal wine rose 34.4%.
The drop in fish oil exports could be due to price fluctuations in international raw material markets, capacity adjustments and the existing stockpile in overseas market.
The increase in Chinese medicinal wine exports also showed the export potential of traditional Chinese medicinal products, the report noted.
