China to accept durian grown in 293 more areas in Vietnam

Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is working with China’s General Administration of Customs for the approval of another 400 farming areas and 60 packaging facilities, according to Vietnam News Agency.

Vietnam first exported the fruit to China in September last year, and ended up shipping 46,000 tons for the year, or 78% of total exports.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit Association, said the approval of more durian farming areas would encourage more farmers and traders to export to China.

Durian could be harvested through the year, its output is large and Vietnam could transport the fruit faster to China than could Thailand, where it has been grown for dozens of years, he said.

But Vietnam needs to improve quality and build brands to compete in the large Chinese market, he added.