As the "king of fruits," a durian is popular in China's fruit market and among consumers, but its "drawback" is that it is too expensive. However, as the harvest season of tropical fruit arrives after we entered May, large quantities of durians are gradually on the market, and prices are becoming more affordable compared to the time when they were first sold.

On sale! A whole durian for less than 100 yuan

Durians were priced at around 100 yuan per kilogram at the beginning of April, but some of the prices were cut to 40 yuan per kilogram in fruit shops and supermarkets after the May Day holiday. It is now possible to get a whole durian for only around 100 yuan.

From May to August, durians are in their peak season for ripeness and sales, large amounts of durians have been coming into the market, and the trend of "high quality and low price" is expected to continue.

Thai durian exports expected to reach a new high by taking China-Laos Railway

Why are durians so cheap this year? Taking Thailand as an example, Thailand has over 200 durian varieties and is the country that exports the freshest durians in the world, as well as the country with the most fruit varieties allowed for import into China. Currently, it is the peak season for picking and selling durians in Thailand, and the majority of Thai durians are sold in China.

A Thai durians export market

According to Thai durian exporters, the time it takes to transport durians to China has been greatly reduced since Thai durians were transported via the China-Laos Railway this year. It took about 7 days by sea and about 5 days by road before, but durians can now be transported from Thailand to China's Kunming in just 3 days thanks to the China-Laos Railway. According to Thai media reports, the "Durian Train" from Thailand's Map Ta Phut to China's Guangzhou has broken the record for the fastest time it takes to transport fruit from Thailand to China, and the probability of damage during transport has also been significantly reduced.

According to statistics from the Thai Ministry of Commerce, China accounted for more than 96% of Thailand's total durian exports in 2022. With the help of the China-Laos Railway, it is expected that this year's Thai durian exports will reach a new high.

"Fruit Trains" on China-Laos Railway imported over 10,000 tons of fruit

Not just durians, there are also mangosteens, longans, mangoes, etc. With the arrival of the fruit harvest season in Southeast Asia, tropical fruits from many Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Singapore, have entered their peak season. A large number of tropical fruits, such as Durians, jackfruits, mangosteens, longans, and grapefruits, began to appear on the market since April this year. There is a fruit train entering China via the China-Laos Railway every day and then heading to major cities such as Kunming, Chengdu, and Guangzhou. By the time of the May Day holiday this year, the China-Laos Railway had imported over 11,000 tons of tropical fruits, greatly enriching China's "fruit basket".

Imported fruits in the Mohan Railway Port

In December 2022, the China-Laos Railway was put into operation for a whole year, and with the introduction of a designated inspection area for imported fruits at the Mohan Railway Port in Yunnan, the China-Laos Railway officially has the ability to transport imported fruits all by rail.

Fresh durians from Thailand are transported by a dedicated cold-chain train all via the railway, and an increasing number of tropical fruits from Southeast Asia are being transported via the "Lancang-Mekong Express" international freight trains on the China-Laos Railway to arrive in Kunming.

Workers sort durians that come into China via the China-Laos railway.

This year's peak season for imported tropical fruits will continue until the end of June, with durians, mangosteens, longans, grapefruits, and other Southeast Asian specialty fruits expected to see a year-on-year increase in transport volume of over 50%.

Cold-chain trains help bring fresh tropical fruits to the dining table

Due to the short preservation time and high requirement for transport time of imported tropical fruits, the China Railway Kunming Group Co., Ltd. and the Mohan Railway Port jointly implement a 24-hour container pick-up and drop-off policy to improve the efficiency of the fruit train's operations so that fruit trains can be unloaded within 90 minutes after arrival and the return of empty containers within 90 minutes after unloading.