Chinese agricultural officials are close to allowing Washington state's Red and Golden Delicious apples back into China next month after a two-year ban. It is unclear if that will also open up the US import of apples from China, which produces half the world's apples.

US and Chinese health inspectors "are working closely towards normalizing trade in apples," Workabeba Yigzaw, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture (USDA), said.

"We look forward to enhancing our bilateral trade relationship and continuing our work toward this mutually beneficial goal with China."

The ban was imposed on Washington, which supplies 80 percent of America's apples, after a shipment to China in early 2012 was declared to be carrying "postharvest diseases."

The two brands were the only US apples allowed in China. They began being imported in 1993, with about 500,000 boxes shipped annually.

US agricultural officials fought the ban last year, claiming that any diseases in the 2012 shipment only affected crab apples for pollination.

According to the Northwest Horticultural Council, agricultural representatives from both countries met in Xiamen, China, earlier in November, and agreed to new inspections by Chinese officials of Golden Delicious and Red Delicious apples in Washington.

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) also drew up a pest list for Chinese imports, which signals that the US government is moving toward opening up the market for Chinese apples, according to the US Apple Association.

US apple sellers are concerned what that might mean for home-grown apples, noting that the import of apple juice to the US from China begun in the 1990s has contributed to Chinese apple juice brands now dominating the US market.

However, China is likely to triple its imports of apples in the next decade, said Desmond O'Rourke, Washington State University agriculture economics professor, who monitors Asian imports of fruits.

With a surplus forecast of 15 million bushels of apples in Washington over the next few years because of increased plantings, Washington growers hope to cash in on the growing Chinese market even as the potential opening of the US market will possibly have them competing with Chinese brands at home.

"In the long run, we simply need the Chinese market with the crop sizes we have right now," said Chris Schlect, president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, in an interview with the Yakima Herald. "Our fruit has to go somewhere."

Washington Governor Jay Inslee spoke with importers in China on a trade mission earlier in November, according to Todd Fryhover, president of the Washington Apple Commission, who accompanied the governor on the trip.

"We had very successful meetings with importers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou asking when Washington apples will be back in," he said in an interview with the Salem Capital Press.

The USDA stressed the importance of growing trade between the two countries.

"Strong agricultural exports contribute to a positive US trade balance, create jobs, boost economic growth and support President Obama's National Export Initiative goal of doubling all US exports by the end of 2014," Yigzaw said.