Fruit and vegetable exports to China increase by more than 133%

The northern neighbour remains the leading consumer of Vietnamese fruit and vegetable with a turnover reaching US$2.26 billion, duly accounting for 63.6% of the country’s total export turnover throughout the reviewed period.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, attributed this impressive growth to China’s reopening along with durian fruit being officially exported to the northern neighbour.

Most notably, the past eight months has seen durian exports reach nearly US$1.3 billion, of which exports to the Chinese market accounted for about 90% of total turnover of this fruit.

Furthermore, China also moved to increase imports of other fruits such as bananas, jackfruit, dragon fruit, and watermelon.

Currently, Vietnam boasts 16 plant products being exported to the Chinese market, including bananas, durian, mangosteen, black jelly, rice bran, rice, sweet potatoes, watermelon, dragon fruit, mango, jackfruit, longan, lychee , rambutan, chili, and passion fruit.

The country has already signed the protocol for the export of rice bran, rice, mangosteen, black jelly, durian, bananas, and sweet potatoes to China

Moreover, the country is in the process of negotiating to sign protocols for the entry of dragon fruit, watermelon, lychee, longan, rambutan, mango, and jackfruit into this market.

Chili peppers and passion fruits are temporarily being allowed to be exported, while citrus fruit groups such as oranges, grapefruits, and coconuts are in the technical negotiation stage.

The Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also submitted an application aimed at opening the market for custard apples and cardamom.

According to preliminary data released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs, fruit and vegetable exports by the end of August reached US$3.55 billion, up 61.8% over the same period from last year, thereby surpassing the figure of US$3.36 billion for the entirety of 2022.

Fruit and vegetables are also the commodity group which recorded the highest growth rate in the agricultural industry during the reviewed period./.