Agriculture & Food

It is the peak season for tropical fruits from Southeast Asia to enter China. Guangxi Pingxiang Customs introduced on the 21st that as of May 20 this year, the import of Southeast Asian fruits at Pingxiang Railway Port has exceeded the 10,000-ton mark, and a total of 602 containers of cold chain fruits have been imported. The value of the goods is US$42,576,600, and the total import volume is close to the level of last year.

Pingxiang, Guangxi, located on the border of China and Vietnam, is the most mainland fruit import and export port in China, and is known as the "China-ASEAN Fruit Capital". Since the Pingxiang Railway Port was approved as a designated supervision site for imported fruits and became China’s first railway port for imported fruits, the local area has realized the regular operation of international cold chain container trains on a weekly basis, effectively diverting the customs clearance pressure at the highway port, and making Thailand , Laos, Vietnam and other places have more convenient access to the Chinese market through railways for characteristic fruits, and further intensify the fruit trade cooperation between China and ASEAN countries.

Fang Peng, general manager of Baosheng International Logistics Co., Ltd., said that due to the impact of the epidemic, railway transportation with fewer drivers and large volumes has been favored by customers. The company is fully operating at Pingxiang Port to transfer railways from Thailand to Vietnam via Laos. Fruit cold-chain trains, regular train schedules, better customs clearance costs have brought considerable economic benefits to customers.

According to Luo Shuyu, a customs officer of the Pingxiang Customs Supervision Division, durian, mangosteen and other fruits are still in short supply in the Chinese market, and Pingxiang fruit imports will continue to operate at a high level. Pingxiang Customs has opened a green channel to give priority to the inspection and release of fresh and live fruits. Customs on-site supervisors have strengthened the training of imported fruits, and guided customs declaration enterprises to familiarize themselves with the declaration process, so that the imported fruits can be inspected and released quickly. At the same time, in order to ensure the safe and hygienic entry of fresh fruits from ASEAN, the customs implements daily disinfection of workplaces and conducts inspection and quarantine risk monitoring of imported fruits.

Pingxiang Customs stated that it will further optimize supervision services and promote more varieties and better quality of Southeast Asian fruits to enter markets across China through rail transportation.