Tropical fruit was a rare sight in Lanzhou a few years ago. The product variety was limited and the prices were high. This put many potential consumers off the idea. Now, however, Vietnamese dragon fruit, Chilean cherries, and other "ocean fruits" are quite popular. Supermarkets in Lanzhou now sell large volumes of "ocean fruit".
China has gradually opened the domestic market for foreign fruits in recent years. A great variety of import fruits entered the domestic market looking for crowds of consumers. People in west China increasingly choose for imported fruits from countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, which are connected by the "one belt, one road" infrastructure.
The China Fruit Distribution Association stated that the demand for high-quality import fruit grows as the Chinese middle class expands and consumption increases. There is great development potential and a wide profit margin in this market. Data from Xinhua News Agency shows that up until the end of October, 2018, China gave permission to 42 countries to export 54 kinds of fruit to the Chinese market. China imported 3.64 million tons of fruit with an import value of 6.07 billion USD in the period between January and September, 2019.
Source: Xinhua News Agency