Malaysia sends first fresh durian shipment to China, eyes export boom

Malaysia sent its first shipment of fresh durians to China on Aug 24 amid great fanfare, two months after the countries signed a deal to expand their trade in the king of fruits from just durian products and frozen whole durians.

- Hazlin Hassan

Malaysia is hoping to see booming demand for its durians in China now that it has been given a slice of the multibillion-dollar market in the world's second-largest economy, which now buys fresh durians from Thailand and Vietnam.

"After this, we expect there will be a sharp increase in exports to China," Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister Arthur Joseph Kurup told a news conference at the launch of Malaysia's first fresh durian shipment to China.

Chinese consumers love the fruit, eating some 1.4 million tonnes of fresh durian imports from Southeast Asia in 2023. This marked a 70 per cent year-on-year rise in consumption.

While durian pulp and durian paste from Malaysia were permitted for export to China in 2011, durians in shells frozen using liquid nitrogen technology were given the green light in 2018.

China is the world's biggest importer of durians. Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia also buy the fruit from Malaysia.

The fresh durians are being airflown to Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport, a major cargo hub in China, and will then be transported to cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.