Which American Food Products Are Most Popular in China?

China Is Not the Market It Was in 2018 — But It's Still Enormous

I get asked a version of this question almost every week. A U.S. brand owner wants to know if China is worth the effort in 2026, given the tariff news and the headlines about decoupling. My honest answer is yes — but a different yes than it was eight years ago. The pie is smaller than the 2022 peak, the rules are tighter, and the winning categories have shifted. If you are reading this and wondering whether your product fits, the short version is that China still buys more American food than almost any other country, and the categories where U.S. brands win have actually gotten clearer. For a broader companion read on category demand across regions, our overview of the most popular American food products internationally is a useful starting point.

Before we get to categories, I want you to hold one number in your head. According to USDA Foreign Agricultural Service reporting, U.S. agricultural and food exports to China ran in the range of $24 to $26 billion in fiscal 2024 — down from a 2022 peak above $36 billion, but still placing China firmly among our top three customers. That is not a market that is going away. It is a market that is changing shape.

The Categories That Actually Move

Here is the ranking I give new U.S. partners when we sit down for the first time. These are not guesses — they line up with what we see clear customs in Shanghai and Shenzhen every month, cross-referenced against published U.S. export data.

Two things are worth calling out about this chart. First, soybeans and bulk grains still dwarf everything else in pure dollar value — but those are commodity flows, not brand opportunities. For a packaged-food founder reading this, the commodity column is interesting context but not your market. Second, look at tree nuts, beef, dairy, pork, seafood, and wine. That is where American brands get placed on Chinese shelves and on Chinese screens. Pet food is not called out separately in every USDA table, but it is one of the fastest-growing categories we handle and I would not leave it off the list.

Cross-Border E-Commerce vs. General Trade: The First Decision

This is the decision I walk almost every new American partner through on our first call. China has two legal ways to sell imported food, and they are not interchangeable. Picking the wrong one can cost a year and a lot of money.

General trade is the traditional import channel. Product clears Chinese customs, pays duty and VAT, gets a Chinese-language label printed in country, and ends up in a physical store or on a mainland online retailer. It requires full GACC registration, Chinese label approval, and a local importer of record. General trade is the only way to sit on a supermarket shelf.

Cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) is the shortcut. Product ships from a U.S. or bonded warehouse directly to a Chinese consumer through platforms like Tmall Global, JD Worldwide, and Kaola. Regulatory friction is lighter, the original English packaging is allowed (with a Chinese sticker), and GACC registration obligations are different. CBEC is how many American brands test China before they commit to general trade.

GACC Registration: The Door Everyone Has to Walk Through

Since January 2022, China's General Administration of Customs has required every foreign food manufacturer exporting to China to be registered under GACC Decree 248 and compliant with Decree 249 on imported food safety management. There are no shortcuts and no exceptions that matter for a U.S. brand. If your facility is not on the published GACC list, your product cannot legally clear customs through general trade.

The registration itself happens on the CIFER online platform, with documentation submitted through your U.S. competent authority (FDA or FSIS, depending on category) for high-risk categories, or self-registered by the manufacturer for lower-risk ones. The core paperwork is straightforward — the trip-wire is getting the category code right the first time.

Where American Food Actually Gets Sold in China

Once the paperwork is done, the next question is where the product goes. Chinese retail is fragmented and changes faster than U.S. retail, but a short list of channels is doing most of the premium-imported-food volume in 2026. These are the venues I point American brands toward first.

In my experience, American brands that treat China like a giant CBEC test run — and never invest in the harder general-trade path — always hit a ceiling. CBEC is a great way to start. It is a terrible place to stay. The Chinese consumer who buys your nuts on Tmall Global this year will expect to find them at Sam's Club next year. If you cannot make that jump, a Chinese competitor will, and they will use your own marketing data to do it.

— Ruth Gao, Sales, China & Asia Pacific, U.S. International Foods

Where I See the Strongest Pull Right Now

Setting commodities aside — soybeans, sorghum, corn, bulk dairy — the branded American categories pulling hardest in 2026 Chinese retail and e-commerce are a short list. I'll rank them the way I rank them on a call with a new U.S. founder.

Labeling, VAT, and the Landed-Cost Reality

The basic landed-cost math for a packaged American food product entering Chinese general trade looks roughly like this. Your U.S. FOB, plus 3 to 6 percent ocean freight and broker fees, plus Chinese import duty (varies by HS code — tree nuts are meaningfully different from cheese, which is meaningfully different from wine), plus 13 percent import VAT on the duty-inclusive value. Remaining retaliatory tariffs on specific U.S. agricultural products also apply to some SKUs and should be confirmed at the HS-code level before you quote.

Labels are a second line item most founders underestimate. Chinese GB-standard labels have to be in Simplified Chinese, list every ingredient and additive in the Chinese regulatory taxonomy, show the Chinese importer's name and address, include country of origin, and present the nutrition panel in the Chinese format. CBEC lets you sticker the original English package; general trade generally does not. Treat the Chinese label as a design project, not a translation project. A lazy GB label looks cheap on a Sam's Club shelf, and Chinese consumers read it.

"CBEC is the entry ramp. Sam's Club, Hema, Ole, and Costco are where the real China business lives. Pick the first — and plan for the second on day one."

The Bottom Line

American food still sells in China. A lot of it. What has changed is that which American food sells, and through what channel, is no longer the same as it was in 2018. Tree nuts, premium proteins, dairy, pet food, wine, seafood, and curated branded snacks are the winners. CBEC is the on-ramp; Sam's Club, Hema, Costco, Ole, and Douyin are where the real volume lives. Every one of those paths requires GACC registration and a real Chinese-first label — no exceptions. Brands that treat that work as the cost of entry, rather than something to avoid, are the brands I see winning here. If you want to see how this fits into a broader export strategy, our piece on how to get a food product exported internationally walks through the same decisions from a founder's perspective, and our products page shows the categories we are already moving into Asia today.