Chinese cities bordering Vietnam are stepping up logistics services to ensure durian supplies can reach any city in the country within 3 days.
China is increasingly fond of Vietnamese durian
When Beijing opens its doors durian From Vietnam last September, Mr. Bob Wang took the opportunity.
Fruit importer in the south China Since then, agreements have been reached with many Vietnamese durian farms with a total planting area of about 3,000 hectares.
Reply to the newspaper South China Morning Post, Mr. Wang said his business is ordering as many durians as possible.
“If all goes well, I will import more than 3,000 containers, equivalent to 60,000 tons of Vietnamese durian this year to meet the needs of the Chinese market – three times the amount of my imports from Thailand,” Mr. Wang, founder of TWT Supply China Company, said.
According to South China Morning Post, durian has quickly become a type imported fruit Most popular in China.
Despite strict import controls during the pandemic, China imported four times more durians in 2022 than in 2017, bringing the total import value to more than $4 billion. .
“Last year, China imported more than 820,000 tons of durian. I am quite confident that total imports will easily reach or exceed 900,000 tons this year” – Mr. Wang, who imported durian from Thailand for 8 years, said.
Durian from Thailand has dominated the Chinese market for many years.
But that dominance is being challenged as durian sources from Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia are increasing, with Malaysia and the Philippines also looking to expand durian imports to China.
Efforts to consolidate logistics
"Durian imports from Thailand are expected to grow steadily this year, while the market share of Vietnamese durians in China will also explode," Mr. Wang said.
The TWT boss also said that in 2022, 780,000 tons of Chinese durian imports will be from Thailand.
Meanwhile, a Chinese fruit retailer explained: "Although Thai durian is expensive, it is more delicious and succulent, while Vietnamese durian is quickly accepted because of its cheaper price."
Mr. Wang also agreed that Vietnamese durian is about 15% cheaper than Thai durian.
The growing market potential for durian in China has prompted cities in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, bordering Vietnam, to increase logistics services to facilitate the import process. password.
Liu Yeke, deputy director of the city's reform and development office, said Chongtao, a border city in Guangxi, is building an advanced logistics center with cold storage and food processing facilities. products to improve import processes.
The first phase of investment will reach about 1.8 billion yuan ($254 million) and will be put into use in 2025, Mr. Liu said.
The above improvements will allow Vietnamese durian to reach all regions of China within 1-3 days.
