Depth report

　　

Xinjiang Turpan cantaloupe, Fujian Minbei citrus, Guangdong Taishan lychee, Shandong Yantai apple, Guangxi Baise mango... As the world's largest fruit producer and the fourth largest fruit exporter, China produces various kinds of fruits with bright colors and sweet taste, which have strong market advantages and greatly meet the needs of the international market. With the in-depth implementation of China's "Belt and Road" Initiative, the rich fruit aroma from all over China is floating to the rest of the world. The ASEAN region, which is connected with the mountains and seas of China and has complementary advantages in fruit resources, has opened up a two-way rush to the Chinese market.

10 years of Belt and Road Initiative, China becomes the world's "fruit basket"

In the 10 years from 2013 to 2022 proposed by China's "Belt and Road" initiative, China's fruit exports have been growing overall, and it is a veritable "fruit basket" in the world.

According to the United Nations Trade Database, between 2013 and 2022, China's fruit trade with countries along the "Belt and Road" increased from 5.44 billion US dollars to 13.98 billion US dollars, with an average annual growth rate of 15.7%. Among them, the volume of fruit imports increased from $2.11 billion in 2013 to $7.35 billion in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of 24.8%; During the same period, the export volume of fruit increased from 2.92 billion US dollars to 3.55 billion US dollars, with an average annual growth rate of 2.2%, and the growth rate of import trade was more than 10 times that of export trade.

Southeast Asia is the core region of China's fruit trade, and Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia are the main trading countries of Chinese fruit. From 2013 to 2022, China's fruit trade with these four countries increased by 224%, 103%, 101% and 70%, respectively, with a strong growth momentum.

According to the statistics of China Customs, in 2023, China's cumulative exports of fruits and products were 7.082 billion US dollars, an increase of 2.25%. Exports amounted to 5.029,300 tons, up 7.91 percent year-on-year. The main export categories are fresh apples, citrus, fresh grapes, fresh pears, grapefruit and pomelo.

In 2023, the top ten countries (regions) of China's fruit and product exports are Vietnam, Thailand, the United States, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Russia, Malaysia and Kyrgyzstan, accounting for 75.47% of China's exports of this product. Vietnam is the most important market for China's fruit and product exports, with exports of $1.26 billion, up 2.95% year on year.

China and ASEAN go both ways

In recent years, the cooperation between China and ASEAN in fruit-related industries has been deepening, and they are each other's consumer market and raw material source. The smooth entry of tropical fruits such as coconut, banana, mango, durian, mangosteen and rambutan from ASEAN into the Chinese market and the gradual enriching of the "fruit basket" of Chinese consumers are inseparable from the connectivity of infrastructure such as ports and railways between the two countries.

Pingxiang Friendship Pass, the largest land fruit import and export port in China located at the border of China and Vietnam, has become the main fruit distribution center of China and ASEAN by virtue of its unique border port advantages. Currently, fruits imported through Pingxiang port account for one-third of China's total imports of fruits, including durian, dragon fruit, jackfruit, mangosteen and watermelon, according to China Economic Net. Among them, durian imports accounted for nearly 80%. Pingxiang is also an important export fruit channel in China, mainly exporting citrus, oranges, apples, pears, grapes and other temperate and subtropical fruits.

According to reports, the import of fresh fruits has high requirements for customs clearance, and the Friendship Customs has continued to deepen customs clearance facilitation measures such as "advance declaration, checkpoint inspection and release", continue to implement the import green channel and the import durian special channel, improve customs clearance efficiency, and escort the import of fruit "grab fresh".

China's media "International Business Daily" reported that at present, China's International Land and Sea Trade New Channel (hereinafter referred to as the land and Sea new channel) rail and sea transport, cross-border roads and cross-border railways have been normal operation, convenient traffic makes China and ASEAN fruit trade more active. After the opening of the China-Laos railway, Thailand's longan, durian and other tropical fruits can be transported to China through this land artery.

On June 11, 2023, durian from Thailand went directly from overseas to Chengdu-Chongqing region in western China through the new land-Sea railway train for the first time. In the past, Chongqing imported durian from Thailand by sea or rail transit, the cold chain transport through the "road + railway" mode of combined transport, from overseas customs clearance directly to Chongqing, further improve the bilateral logistics transportation efficiency, shorten the time for fresh Thai durian to enter the Chongqing market.

As a key node of the new land-sea channel sea-rail combined transport, Guangxi Qinzhou Port has opened fruit express lines to Thailand, Vietnam and other countries, and actively promotes the construction of related supporting infrastructure such as cold chain and cold storage to facilitate the import and export of fruits in Southeast Asia.

China's "Belt and Road" Initiative has opened up a smoother road for Chinese fruits and vegetables to go to sea, and also allowed the characteristic fruits of ASEAN countries to enter millions of Chinese households. It is believed that with the continuous advancement of the "Belt and Road" Initiative, China and ASEAN will open more two-way roads.