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China’s durian imports from Thailand, Malaysia soar as glut stresses growers

PressNewsAgency
By PressNewsAgency

China’s durian imports rose 47 per cent, year on year, in the first half of 2026, with Thailand and Malaysia posting particularly strong gains, according to customs data, as Southeast Asian exporters offloaded a glut of the fruit that had sparked a price drop.

Thailand exported nearly US$3.79 billion worth of the pungent spiky fruit shipped to China in the first half of 2026, the Chinese customs data showed, taking an 81 per cent share of the market. Thai shipments reached US$2.56 billion in the first half of 2025, also nearly 81 per cent of the total.

Vietnam came in second place over the first six months of 2026 with US$846 million, or 18 per cent, of the total inbound shipments.

Thai durians maintain an edge in preference for Chinese consumers, with a mature logistics and quality-control infrastructure that has given the fruit a sterling reputation. Vietnam, which received approval to ship fresh durians to China in 2022, ramped up exports last year but has been stung by occasional quality-control issues.

Malaysia, a relative newcomer in the Chinese fresh durian market, shipped US$30.26 million worth of the fruit to China in the first six months of this year, up 342 per cent compared with the same period in 2025, the data showed.

The import volume in the first half of 2026, from all countries, was 1.07 million tonnes, up from 708,000 in the first six months of last year.

Expansion of China-Laos Railway services and Chinese e-commerce have elevated Southeast Asia’s durian exports to China – the world’s biggest market with 90 per cent of all durians consumed.

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