Now that China's national Golden Week holiday is over, popular local summer fruit like grapes, pomegranates and jujubes will soon be out of season. For Zhejiang Wenhui Fruit Market marketing director Miu Guofu, whose company is based in the bustling second-tier city of Hangzhou, a relative shortage of in-season domestic fruit is expected for the rest of October.

"Due to adverse climate, the fruits are expected to arrive 10-15 days later than usual," Miu told Zhejiang Online.

The end of the Jiangxi-grown orange deal is also close to an end, with the fruit selling at CNY5 (US$0.82) per kilogram (2.2 pounds).

"Too much rain this year resulted in disappointing sweetness in oranges, and we received far fewer premium oranges than we did last year," Miu told the publication.

"I know some wholesalers even decided to forego some orange deals of over CNY1 million (US$163,000) to avoid risk," he was quoted as saying, adding that Jiande oranges were on the shelf now and that famous Huangyan oranges would be around in November.

On the other hand, grapefruit prices have gone up quite a bit.

"Fujian's Pinghe grapefruit offers great taste and is quite popular now," Miu said. In Lianhua supermarket on Tiancheng Street, as many as six varieties of grapefruit from Fujian Pinghe are offered.

Mr. Li, the owner of another storefront at the Zhejiang Wenhui market, told the publication the price of apples has risen by 15% this year, with increased export volumes pushing up domestic prices.

"Shaanxi apples are mostly exported now, rather than being sold domestically," he was quoted as saying.

Miu says the Russian ban on European produce items has also played a role in driving up Chinese prices.

"The export volume to Russia increased sharply after the ban," Miu told the publication, adding that Shaanxi-grown apples were sold at CNY15.6-19.6 (US$2.54-3.20) per kilogram at the market, with a 31-64% mark-up in Lianhua Supermarket.

Mr. Li told Zhejiang Online that business was quite disappointing for Golden Week, as many customers took longer breaks this year to travel or visit families, and bought less fruit.

He also attributed this phenomenon to the rise of e-commerce.

"Since last year, many fruit stores have felt the impact from e-commerce. Some wise store-owners have begun actively collaborating with e-commerce sites."

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