Southeast Asia has a strong position in fruit production and export due to its unique climate. China is the largest export market for Southeast Asian countries because of its geographical proximity. Imports from Southeast Asia mainly enter China through Guangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan, and Hunan in south China. North China mainly imports high-end tropical fruit. Mr. Lu of the China Chamber of Commerce of Foodstuffs and Native Produce stated that Southeast Asia is the main origin of imported fruit in China, especially the ever-popular durian and longan.
In the long term, however, there is still a possibility that the annual import volume of Southeast Asian fruit will decrease. Fruit is a product that can easily be replaced. Domestic production of tropical fruit is growing, for example dragon fruit, durian, and bananas. The scale of production is increasing, in particular for bananas. The quality of Chinese bananas is also improving, which makes it more likely that the import volume of tropical fruit from Southeast Asia will decrease.
While the short term impact of import fruit certainly has an effect on the Chinese fruit market, this also provides opportunities and encouragement for improvements in domestic fruit production. Farmers are pressed to increase the quality of domestic fruit production to compete with import fruit. This will ultimately improve the level of China's fruit industry.
Source: comnews.cn