TOS 212. October 2026. Article 2

Last year’s TOS 199 and 200 featured a China country profile. The Editorial Committee of the TOS finds the growth of organics, in acreage, in certification bodies, the Chinese domestic market and its exports relevant enough to have regular updates – and address a concern.

Latest production data presented

Presentations on China’s organic progress were given during the Biofach trade shows in February and May 2026 in Nuremberg and Shanghai respectively. Middle of 2026 an update report was published on China’s Organic Agriculture and Food Sector by the Sino-German Agricultural Centre (DCZ), https://www.dcz-china.org/2026/06/12/study-chinas-organic-food-and-ag-sector/. It provides an in-depth analysis of trends and changes in China’s organic agriculture sector till 2024. It is based on the World of Organic Agriculture 2026 report, published by FiBL and IFOAM-Organics International and uses additional statistics from relevant Chinese authorities.

China becoming first

It contains some striking statistics. Over the two past decades, China’s organic agriculture and food sector has caught up with leading global producers and markets. In 2000, only 4,000 hectares of China’s arable land were certified as organic. By 2024, this figure had increased to 3.59 million hectares, accounting for 0.74% of the country’s total agricultural land. Approx. 56% of China’s organic farmland is used for cereal production, 17% for beans, 11.5% for nuts, 4.6% for grass and hay, 3.7% for medicinal herbs, and only 2.3% for vegetables – while vegetables recorded a plus 70% increase between 2023 and 2024.

With approximately 2.01 million hectares of organic cereals, China is by far the world’s leading country in this category. With 606,900 hectares, China is also the world’s leading country in organic oilseeds.

In terms of product category, plant products account for the largest share of certificates at 60%, followed by processed products at 27% (2025 info). The supply base for organic agriculture in China remains primarily oriented towards cereals, beans and oilseeds.

Focus on Heilongjiang province

Geographic concentration remains a defining characteristic of Chinese organic agriculture. The province with the largest certified organic crop area is Heilongjiang (approx. 1 Mio hectares), its most northeastern province. This reflects a structural change, to move out of the densely populated eastern provinces with intensive conventional farming and associated contamination risks (China has the world’s highest usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides) to areas of lower population density with less intensive conventional agriculture. 

There have been concerns regarding this fast growth inside China and in Europe and the US. In response, the so-called Administrative Measures on Organic Product Certification, first issued in 2004, was revised in 2022 (SAMR Decree No. 61). As the number of certification bodies in China’s organic sector expanded rapidly to over 100, concerns emerged over irregularities, insufficient oversight in the inspection and certification of organic producers and products. In response, Chinese regulators strengthened supervision in 2024. SAMR undertook various oversight activities, like witnessing inspections, checking certification files, spot-check audits on the validity of organic product certifications and sampling product batches, with generally good results. A further revision of the Implementation Rules for Organic Product Certification entered into force in January 2026, tightening the requirements for certification bodies and strengthening post-certification supervision. That is of compliance with the Chinese standard and certification requirements. 

China is not listed as a recognized third country under Annex I of EU Regulation 2021/2325. Organic products from China destined for the European market must be certified by a control body recognized under Article 46 of EU Regulation 2018/848. By the end of June 2026, there are 18 CBs recognised by the European Commission for certification in China. These CBs need to have a permit from the China National Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA). Also USDA accreditation certifiers, certifying products to the USDA Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule need to be recognised by the CNCA. Currently there are 4 CBs listed in the USDA Organic Integrity Database that certify Heilongjiang province’s organic products. BTW on 1.46 Mio hectares. Does compliance with the Chinese standard also mean compliance with the European and US standard and certification requirements? 

Questions about organic soil fertility management 

Heilongjiang province supplies most of the Chinese organic cereals, beans, soy and other oilseeds exports. It is stockless arable farming – the organic farmers do not keep cattle, do not produce any animal feed ingredients themselves. Oilseed cakes are exported too. There is no grass-clover or grass-lucerne “ley” or cover crop that remains on the field for one year or longer, as is used in the UK, France or Germany, and Canada. Which makes organic matter management and weed control a lot easier. The other anxiety is about the source of the neighbouring smallholders’ manure as the main source of fertilisation. Is an invoice sufficient documented evidence, or should the manure, the smallholders, the thousands of cattle (we talk about 1 Mio hectare) actually seen, be verified? Should the bags of fertilizer found in some farm buildings, explained to be from neighbours or workers, be taken more seriously? What are, where are the approved organic external inputs? What does it take the CB to be convinced that the long-term fertility of the soil is maintained? 

A solution, a multistakeholder dialogue

For China to expand its organic exports, we suggest that this concern is addressed. We invite Chinese knowledge institutions like universities and the extension service to describe the typical, average Heilongjiang arable Organic Farming System (OFS). What is the desired crop sequence, the use of legumes, of green manures, the use of compost or any other external farm inputs. How are the organic farmers trained, what is the extension system? Are the recommended external farm inputs available at a reasonable price, or are they (or should they) be provided to the farmers for free by the exporter? What are the application rates, the timing, what are the expected yields, how much can they vary according to the season’s weather? How close are they to the province’s average conventional yield? Knowing the OFS, its best practices and inputs used, what would be the Organic Critical Control Points (OCCPs) for the CBs to verify implementation? What should they require the farmers to document, at what time of the year do they want to verify that information to be correct. Should the CBs collectively look into the approved input supply? Look into the farm financial records? Once the CBs and oversight bodies agree on these inspection, verification requirements, CBs can better assure, collect evidence of compliance, and relevant authorities can do better oversight in future cropping seasons.

The Alliance is not into bashing a country or a certain crop, it is about solving larger, global integrity questions. Because the same questions should be asked to certifiers active in Eastern European, African and Latin American stockless arable farming systems certification. So that there is an even playing field when exporting to Europe or the US. Can China lead the way here too? Not only in production but also its quality assurance?   

BTW, in these times of climate change, there is an increasing interest in stockless but sustainable organic arable farming… 

Who is willing to contribute, provide some more information on how to do sustainable stockless arable farming with evidenced compliance to Chinese, European, US standards?

Any reactions, comments, input, please send to elzakker@alliancefororganicintegrity.bio