Market access issues continue to plague Australian farmers looking to unlock new export opportunities in China, potentially worth millions of dollars.

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Almost 12 months on from the China Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) coming into force, producers are frustrated that many non-tariff barriers still block exports to the Asian powerhouse.

While Chinese consumers are already paying up to $200 per kilogram for Australian wagyu steak and $10 per litre for fresh milk, other food commodities are yet to see such gains.

Queensland vegetable grower, packer and processor Kalfresh plans to sell carrots to China, but is locked in a bureaucratic vortex of biosecurity protocols.

"It doesn't matter how much work people at a bureaucratic level do," Kalfresh chief executive Richard Gorman said.

A busy morning inside the Huizhan wholesale fruit market ( Craig Zonca )

"Nothing is going to happen until the people who run our country say 'we think it's really important for us to sell food to China'," he said.

"Food is where mining was 25 years ago, it's going to be a part of the next booming economy, we need access to make that happen."

Avocado growers, like Joe Lyons, are also keen to sell directly into China to compete with imports already arriving from Mexico and Chile.

"There's been a lot of work from industry over the past seven years to get into China, and not through the grey door," he said.

"We've got a good product; we want to get it out there."

Tariffs down, down, down

Under the ChAFTA deal, tariffs on fruit, vegetables and nuts, some of which were up to 30 per cent, will be phased out over the next few years. Most will be tariff-free by 2019.

"At the moment, a lot of our government representatives don't enough quite understand the [access] issue," Mr Gorman said.

"They [the Chinese] need to have confidence that our systems in place here can not be corrupted ... because that is what they deal with day in, day out.

"They live in a part of the world where everyone's trying to sell them food from all over the place."

Mr Gorman recently joined a number of farmers and agribusinesses on a trade mission to China led by economic development group Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE).

TSBE's Ben Lyons said many of the promised benefits of the free trade deal were yet to materialise.

"ChAFTA sent a big signal that Australia and China is open for trade," he said.

"But yes, all of our agencies, industry associations and Government need to keep turning up to the Chinese government to talk through these non-tariff barriers.

"China is our biggest trading partner, but we're one of 123 countries that have China as their biggest trading partner."

Market access block could be costing billions

The value of agricultural exports to China has grown rapidly in recent years to be worth more than $12 billion in 2015-16, but modelling by KPMG suggests that could be much higher.

The consulting firm suggested market access was one of the key hurdles that had cost Australian businesses $14 billion in unrealised revenue from the recent free trade deals with China, Japan and Korea.

Australia's assistant trade minister Keith Pitt has been tasked with addressing the cross-border regulatory and quarantine obstacles.

Australian navel oranges for sale in a high-end supermarket in Shanghai ( Craig Zonca )

"I'm very well aware of some of the challenges we have in a number of nations around particular products," he said before meeting with a group of Australian producers in Shanghai.

"I don't want to pick favourites ...we will be working through a priority list."

But as to what was on the priority list, Mr Pitt refused to say.

It was little comfort for growers like Mr Gorman, for whom the wait continues.

"We know the market is there and they care a lot about the way food is produce and how safe it is," he said.

"We've got a lot to offer, it's now about convincing those that make the rules we have a lot to offer and market access is worth pushing."

Australian citrus in high-demand

Commodities with market access are starting to realise the opportunities of selling into a country with a population of 1.36 billion and a growing middle class willing to pay for fresh, safe and high-quality food.

China has become Australia's largest customer for citrus, with exports up over 50 per cent in the past year to be valued at $68 million to the end of September.

A package of four Australian honey-murcott mandarins was advertised for $15 at a high-end supermarket in Shanghai, oranges were similarly priced.

Importers at Shanghai's Huizhan wholesale fruit market said Australia's enviable food reputation had spurred strong demand.

"There's no competitors," claimed Alex Deng, who will also import cherries from Tasmania in the coming months.

"For the oranges, we imported about 90 containers [this year]."

"Australian oranges are always much sweeter," said fellow importer Gavin Shi.

Mango exports to China double

With the citrus season wrapping up, Mr Shi's focus had shifted to an anticipated arrival of mangoes, which can sell for up to $12 each in China.

"They know the difference of the Australian mangoes and those from other countries," he said.

"Australian mangoes are so big, so colourful ... Australian mangoes I think are the best in the world."

Tariffs on mangoes have dropped from 15 per cent to 9 per cent since the ChAFTA was ratified.

Trade data showed that in the early part of 2016, Chinese imports of fresh Australian mangoes had more than doubled on the season prior.

Australia has now overtaken Thailand as China's main supplier of the highly sought-after fruit.

Individually packaged R2E2 mangoes from Manbulloo on sale in China ( Scott Ledger, Manbulloo )

Going crackers for Aussie nuts

Nuts are another commodity in high demand from cashed up Chinese consumers with macadamias and pecans emerging as snack foods rather than just for special occasions or gifts.

Ganyun Shao, the owner of Hangzhou Lin'an Qinglai Roasted Food Company, said he had struggled to find the necessary supply to keep up with "staggering" demand.

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"The Chinese consumers like the Australian macadamias for their good quality and fantastic taste," he said.

"Macadamia now has a nickname in China — people tend to call it the king of nuts."

About 30 per cent of Australia's 46,000 tonne macadamia crop is forecast to be exported nut-in-shell to Asia this season.

Competition from every direction

While the market opportunities may seem endless in China, Shanghai-based business consultant Michael Wadley sounded a warning for Australian producers to not be overly ambitious.

"It's a complex market, it's a massive market, it's 37 different provinces and territories," he said.

Australian beef on the shelves of a supermarket in Shanghai. ( Craig Zonca )

"Most things we know at home are done differently here so you have to try to be forewarned and then you have to patient.

"You have to assume it's a battlefield here ... there's somebody here every week negotiating a free trade agreement.

"The whole world wants to be a part of the China market; our competition is everywhere."

This story was funded with the assistance of a grant under the Australia-China Agricultural Cooperation Agreement Programme, administered by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.