appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Ralph Jennings

Mia Nurmamat

China’s imports of fresh durians have fallen this year because of stricter sanitation checks at the border, according to people who follow the trade.
The value of fresh durian imports in the first five months of this year fell by 32.5 per cent year on year to US$1.93 billion, according to the General Administration of Customs.
By volume, imports were down 32.9 per cent to 390,900 tonnes.
Hardest hit was Vietnam, which saw nearly 62 per cent year-on-year declines in both the value and volume of durians shipped to China, customs data shows. Vietnam’s shipments totalled US$254 million during the first five months of 2025.
Imports from Thailand fell 24 per cent year on year in US dollar terms over the same period to US$1.67 billion, with a slightly smaller decline in volume terms. Thailand retained its title as China’s top source of imports, followed by Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.
Tighter safeguards against pesticides and other sanitation issues have slowed imports, people who follow trade said on Tuesday, adding that exporters might need some time to get used to the new rules.
“Vietnamese growers and traders need to meet the standards,” said Nguyen Thanh Trung, a political scientist at Fulbright University Vietnam. “This year I think they may be affected a lot, but growers and traders will learn.”
China’s customs policy had changed in terms of measuring amounts of pesticide residue against the maximum levels allowable for imports, said Sam Sin, development director at the Hong Kong-based durian exporter S&F Produce Group.
The pungent spiky fruit is big business in China, where a 6kg (13.2lbs) durian can fetch as much as 200 yuan (US$27.87). Dubbed the king of fruits, they are popular with middle-class families as well as dessert makers and givers of gifts for occasions such as weddings.
But Chinese supermarkets have high food safety standards and earlier this year customs officials were inspecting all durian shipments for a toxic yellow dye and any heavy metals, according to VietnamNet, a news outlet affiliated with the Southeast Asian country’s Ministry of Information and Communications.


Nhan Dan, the official media outlet of the Communist Party of Vietnam, said in April that durians shipped to China made up more than 92 per cent of Vietnam’s total durian exports in January last year but just 57.6 per cent this January because China had implemented “stricter controls” on exporting countries.
The reports suggested that China had “tightened customs inspections and quality control” for fruit shipments, said Lim Chin Khee, an adviser to the Durian Academy, a Malaysian institution that trains local growers.
China’s General Administration of Customs did not immediately answer a request for comment.
Huynh Xuan Son, who has been growing durian on 12 hectares (30 acres) of land in the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Thuan for seven years, said many parts of Vietnam do not have local fruit testing laboratories. That shortage led to delays in gaining export approvals, “hurting competitiveness against Thailand”.
Vietnam is a relatively new source of durians for China, which lacks a domestic crop of comparable scale, and analysts said it appeared that some Vietnamese growers were still figuring out export-quality sanitation.
“Thailand moved with impressive speed to establish farm-level testing facilities and quickly restored China’s trust,” said Dan Martin, a Hanoi-based international business adviser with the consultancy Dezan Shira & Associates.
“Vietnamese exporters, however, remain shut out by repeated border rejections stemming from contaminant detection and a glaring lack of screening systems before fruit ever leaves the farm.”


Why US chip controls took a back seat at the Xi-Trump summit

Trade truce extension aside, was AI the real Xi-Trump summit breakthrough?

Xi ends 3-day Trump visit with promise to meet again in November in China – as it happened

China and EU deadlocked on medical devices, still talking on PHEV curbs: source

China trade

China’s durian imports plunge as stricter checks catch out traders

Durian imports fell by almost a third in the first five months of this year. Photo: Shutterstock

Visitors check out Vietnamese durians at the China-Asean Expo in Nanning, capital of southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in September last year. Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Cambodia starts selling durians to China, vying to rival Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia

Consumers inspect Vietnamese durians at a trade expo in southern China. China is by far the world’s largest durian market, with most of its imports currently coming from Thailand and Vietnam. Photo: Getty Images

Chinese actress Fan Bingbing eats durians in Malaysia. China is by far the world’s largest durian market, where the fruit is highly prized. Photo: Instagram

1 man, 10,000 durian trees: China’s planting pains give way to golden home-grown bounty

 Illustration: Brian Wang

Clusters of young home-grown durians – about the size of cherries – are seen at an orchard in China’s Hainan province last month. Photo: Ji Siqi

A home-grown Chinese durian is opened at an orchard in Hainan province last month, revealing the edible fruit inside. Photo: Ji Siqi

Indonesia’s vast durian industry is poised to begin exports to China

China is by far the world’s largest importer of durians, with Thailand supplying more than half of its total imports last year. Photo: Getty Images

China is by far the world’s largest importer of durians, with Thailand supplying more than half its total imports last year. Photo: Xinhua

China breaks durian import record as Vietnam, Malaysia nip at Thailand’s heels

China’s durian market - the world’s largest - is becoming a battleground for countries in Southeast Asia eager to get their slice of the proceeds. Photo: AFP

China’s durian market - the world’s largest - is becoming a battleground for countries in Southeast Asia eager to get their slice of the proceeds. Photo: China News Service via Getty Images

China’s growing appetite for durian spurs market innovations

People buy Malaysian durians at the China-Asean Expo in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in September. Photo: Xinhua

Economy

China Economy

Global Economy

News

China

Asia

Imports fell by nearly one-third during the first five months of the year, with Vietnamese exporters hit hardest


Imports fell by nearly one-third during the first five months of the year, with Vietnamese exporters hit hardest.


Durians in China

Vietnam

Thailand

China economy

China’s durian imports plunge as stricter checks catch out traders

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Imports fell by nearly one-third during the first five months of the year, with Vietnamese exporters hit hardest

Imports fell by nearly one-third during the first five months of the year, with Vietnamese exporters hit hardest