Vietnamese durians once earned 3 billion yuan annually in China, but instead of focusing on proper cultivation, they started adding toxic substances to the fruits.
Australian fruit exports to China once accounted for more than half of their total exports, yet they kept complaining about China’s strict quarantine measures.
Now, what’s the result? Vietnamese durians are rotting in the fields with no buyers, and Australian fruit farmers have had to wait 15 years to be allowed back into the Chinese market.
In contrast, Thailand and the Philippines, who understand the rules, are making huge profits from the Chinese market.
Now, Vietnam and Australia can only watch as others prosper, while they suffer the consequences. But who can they blame?
The “Self-Important” Vietnamese Fruit Merchants
In June 2022, China officially opened its market to Vietnamese fresh durians. This news excited Vietnamese durian farmers and exporters.
China is the world’s largest durian market. Before this, Vietnamese durians could only enter through limited border trade channels. Now, with official approval, it was like opening the “golden door.”
In the first year of approval, Vietnam’s durian exports to China exceeded 250,000 tons. By 2023, this figure skyrocketed to 700,000 tons, with export value nearing $3 billion.
The explosive growth in market demand led to a sharp increase in the purchase price of Vietnamese durians, from 30,000 VND per kilogram to 80,000 VND, allowing many farmers to quickly pay back their investments and even build new homes.
However, the speed at which money was being made led some Vietnamese exporters to become reckless.
In a rush to beat competitors to the market and sell at high prices, some orchards started harvesting durians before they had naturally ripened, using ethylene and other ripening agents to accelerate the process.
These durians may look golden on the outside, but their flesh is hard and tasteless, with no natural sweetness. Worse still, harmful chemical residues from the ripening agents may remain.
Some unscrupulous merchants even dipped the durians in yellow dye—banned in China—just to make the shell look more appealing.
These actions were soon discovered by China’s customs, which revealed that 30% of Vietnamese durian samples tested positive for toxic pesticide residues, some of which even exceeded the safe limit by several times.
To protect consumers, China’s General Administration of Customs issued new regulations at the end of 2024. In addition to the usual inspection items, new tests for alkaline yellowing and cadmium content were introduced. Starting from January 2025, all shipments of Vietnamese durians must undergo 100% inspection at all entry points.
However, there are only nine certified laboratories in Vietnam, and they cannot cope with the massive daily inspection demand. Previously, durians cleared customs within three days, but now it has been extended to 18 days, sometimes even longer.
At the Lang Son border in Vietnam, over 200 containers of durians are piling up, requiring cold storage, with exporters losing thousands of dollars daily. Despite paying for cold storage, some durians spoil during the long wait and must be discarded.
The “Unfortunate” Australian Fruit Merchants
In 2010, Australia gained approval to export apples to China, but only from the Tasmania region.
This wasn’t because China was intentionally making it difficult, but because Australian mainland apples failed to address issues with Mediterranean fruit fly and Queensland fruit fly, which pose a severe threat to the fruit industry.
These pests could devastate domestic orchards in China, and instead of immediately investing resources to solve the problem, Australia chose to repeatedly criticize China’s quarantine standards as “too strict,” even suggesting that China was engaging in “trade protectionism” on the international stage.
This led to years of stalled negotiations. Over 15 years, Australia’s total fruit exports to China fell by 35%, and apples that were originally destined for China were instead left to rot at home.
In 2024, a report by Australia’s agricultural department made it clear: due to inadequate pest control, Australia’s fruit industry loses $230 million AUD annually.
In orchards in Victoria and New South Wales, overripe apples often fall to the ground, rotting and giving off a sour smell.
Finally, in August this year, before the Australian president visited China, an agreement was signed allowing Australian apples to enter China. This was after 15 years of waiting.
The Philippines Rakes in Profits While Vietnam and Australia Miss the Boat
Unlike Vietnam and Australia, the Philippines knew how to play by the rules. It understood the importance of quality and the fundamental role it plays in maintaining market access.
In 2023, during the Philippine president’s visit to China, a durian export agreement was signed. The Philippines didn’t rush to increase exports but instead focused on preparation. The government organized training for durian growers, covering everything from fertilization to pest control and harvesting times, all in line with China’s quarantine standards.
When it started exporting, the Philippines ensured that every batch of durians passed the country’s quarantine inspections and fully complied with China’s random sampling checks.
This careful and rigorous approach paid off. By 2025, the Philippines is expected to export 54,000 tons of durians to China, accounting for 90% of its total durian production, effectively meeting the vast majority of China’s demand.
Now, the Philippine government treats its durian industry as a key pillar of agricultural development, even planning to expand planting areas to meet the growing demand from Chinese consumers.
At the same time, in China, Hainan has also been making strides to reduce its dependence on imported durians. After years of research, Hainan has developed high-quality durian varieties suitable for its local climate.
By 2025, Hainan’s durian planting area will reach 50,000 acres, with a total output surpassing 5,000 tons. More importantly, the durians from Hainan are picked ripe from the tree, offering unparalleled freshness at lower prices than imported ones.
At Beijing’s Xinfadi market, Hainan durians are quickly snapped up as soon as they hit the shelves.
Given the rapid growth of Hainan’s durian industry and the Philippines’ adherence to quality standards, it’s clear that Vietnam and Australia, having ignored quality control, are now regretting their lost market access in China.
