Customs staff members inspect the Vietnamese durians. [Photo by Ran Jinghang/China News Service]

The first batch of Vietnamese durians weighing 18.24 metric tons valued at 512,400 yuan ($72,688) arrived at Youyiguan Checkpoint in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Sept 19. It passed customs clearance after inspection and quarantine.

Vietnam has a long harvesting period for its durian, and its annual yield reaches 600,000 tons. After Vietnamese durians can be imported to China, Chinese consumers can access durians of better quality with lower prices as China shares borders with Vietnam, reducing logistic resources and benefiting from the lower production costs.

"It only took two hours to transport this batch of durians from Vietnam to Youyiguan Checkpoint. Therefore, the freshness and taste of durians can be better preserved," said Qin Jun, vice president of YH Global, the importer of this batch of durians.

Qin noted that the unique business environment in the Chongzuo area of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) implementation would bring more development opportunities to local enterprises.

Peng Renkai of Youyiguan Checkpoint Customs said that efforts had been made to inspect the durian orchards, packaging, and quarantine before importing to ensure product quality.

Currently, 66 kinds of fruit from nine countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Cambodia, have gained approval to be imported into China. Guangxi has gradually become a significant passage for China importing ASEAN fruit.

A total of 380,000 tons of ASEAN fruit entered the Chinese market via Guangxi checkpoints with a value of 5.83 billion yuan in the first eight months of 2022.

Zhou Bo of Nanning Customs said that convenient and expedited measures such as opening green channels, offering all-day round customs clearance services, and carrying out fast tests at laboratories are available for imported fruit as fruit are perishable.