China has a large market for durians, which are characterized by their strong smell and popularly known as the “king of fruits,” but until this year, the country has relied on imports to satisfy domestic demand.
According to the Huaon Industrial Research Institute, China is the third largest durian market in the world following Indonesia and Malaysia, and accounts for 19 percent of the global total consumption. Data from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) show China imported 224,400 tons of fresh durians in 2017 and 821,500 tons in 2021. In the first quarter of this year, the volume and value of fresh durian imports were 91,400 tons and $507 million, a year-on-year increase of about 154 percent and 125 percent, respectively.
