Hike in Fruit Exports from Thailand to China

By Jenny Hu

Of the agricultural products which are used for bilateral trade between China and ASEAN， fruit is particularly notable， especially fruit exports from Thailand to China （which ranked first in terms of turnover）. In the first half of 2021， the export value of Thailands fruit to China totaled USD 2.43 billion， marking an increase of as high as 71.1% from a year ago， including USD 740 million to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， which was second only to Guangdong Province （USD 870 million）.

Guangxi is an important gateway into the Chinese market for Thai fruit

According to the statistics on Thai fruit imports provided by the General Administration of Customs of China， from January to August 2021， China imported more than 1.471 billion tons of fruit from Thailand， with a value of USD 5.053 billion， including 253 million tons to Guangxi， accounting for 18% of the total imports into China.

Regardless of whether land， sea or air transportation is used， logistics are an important factor for Thai fruit exports， because fruit is a special product that requires cold-chain transportation， and the freshness and quality are directly related to the amount of time spent on the road.

According to Wei Ran， Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade （CCPIT） Guangxi Committee，？ there are two main land transport routes for Thai fruit into Guangxi. One is the R12 highway， which links Bangkok， Thailand and Nanning， China， via Laos and Vietnam， and entering China across the Friendship Pass. The R12 highway has been designated by China as the main channel for Sino-ASEAN trade， since it has obvious advantages in terms of transport mileage and cost. Second is the R19 highway， which links Mukdahan in Thailand to the Pingxiang Friendship Pass in Guangxi， China， through Savannakhet in Laos， and Lao Bao， Ha Tinh and Lang Son in Vietnam. The Guangxi Pingxiang railroad port， after becoming a designated site for the supervision of inbound fruit， has begun regular operation of international cold chain container trains， facilitating the exports of fruit from Thailand to China， and effectively diverting the pressure on customs clearance away from the Friendship Pass and other highway ports.

At the New Western Land-Sea Corridor China （Guangxi， Sichuan） —Thai Special Fair for Fruit which was held recently， consul general of the Kingdom of Thailand in Nan-ning， Ms. Benjamas Tanvetyanont said： “Thai entrepreneurs are also actively exploring new ways to export Thai fruit to China. On the one hand， Guangxi is an important gateway for Thai fruit into China. On the other， we still need to develop other new channels and markets in China， such as the sea transportation route through Qinzhou Port and other ports in the Beibu Gulf. With a population of more than 500 million， strong purchasing power and high consumer demand for quality products in 12 provinces， autonomous regions and municipalities in western China， we have to deliver fresh Thai fruit to consumers.”

On September 13， 2021， a new version of the Protocol between the General Administration of Customs of China and the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives on the Inspection and Quarantine Requirements for Exportation and Importation of Fruit Between China and Thailand through Territories of Third Countries was signed. The protocol increased the number of import and export ports for agricultural products in Thailand and China to 16， including 6 Thai ports and 10 Chinese ports. The land ports in Guangxi listed in the protocol include the Friendship Pass Port， Pingxiang Port， Dongxing Port， Longbang Port and Shuikou Port.

S i n c e 2 018 w h e n Qinzhou Port in Guangxi formed a sister-port relationship with Thailands Laem Chabang Port， Sino-Thai maritime transportation cooperation and bilateral trade have been strengthened， especially in the fruit trade， since more convenient fruit transportation has brought about unprecedented opportunities for Thai agricultural products and fruit exports. At present， there are 7 shipments a week arriving at Qinzhou Port， Guangxi， from Bangkok and Laem Chabang Port， Thailand， making Qinzhou Port an important and influential port for imported agricultural products， especially Thai fruit， into western China.

As Wei Ran suggested， both sides should further strengthen their logistics cooperation in the future based on multimodal transport integration， and should share industrial policy information and new opportunities for industrial development， in the hopes of developing specialized supply chains integrating production， supply and marketing and improved supply channels， by carrying out more Sino-Thai fruit trade and investment promotion activities.

New Western Land-Sea Corridor greatly improves logistics efficiency

In recent years， the Belt and Road Initiative has greatly improved the cooperation in terms of logistics， transportation， the economy， trade and investment between China and countries along the Belt and Road， boosting participation and joint construction of interconnecting routes. In particular， a large number of Chinese enterprises have invested in countries along the Belt and Road， especially Southeast Asian countries. China has launched the construction of a new western land and sea trade corridor in China， as part of its 14th Five-Year Plan and an important strategy for the development of western China. Thippawan Supamikitja， consul general of the Kingdom of Thailand in Chengdu， said：“The New Western Land-Sea Corridor connects the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road which were conceived by China， as well as the Yangtze River Economic Belt， with all three of the economic belts in China being linked with ASEAN countries， which will promote further cooperation between China and ASEAN countries through multimodal logistics.”

COSCO Shipping， which is deeply involved in the joint construction of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor， has witnessed the development of this new corridor. Tan Yaqin， general managers assistant of Cosco Shipping Guangxi International Freight Co.， Ltd.， explained that， as early as 2019， COSCO Shipping had successfully operated the first searail joint transport project for basa fish frozen containers along the New Western Land-Sea Corridor， and the first sea-land express project for the Southeast Asia cold chain in 2020. BY making use of sea-rail joint transportation through this new western corridor， containers can be transported to Chongqing and Sichuan more quickly than by river-sea transport. In addition， as for the concerns regarding tight shipping and railway capacities， she added that COSCO Shipping offers， through e-commerce platforms， special services for registered and certified SMEs， namely， making reservations though very tight warehouse allocation， with reservations being made transparently through e-commerce platforms.

As the retail business manager at CP Food Nanning， Xie Lifang explained that durians from Thailand have become popular and have a good reputation， and that next year， CP Food will bring in other Thai fruit such as mangosteens， coconuts， longans and so on to China， in order to promote fruit imports from Thailand.

As for cross-border logistics and transportation， Wang Zhengbo， General Manager of TWT Supply Chain suggested minimizing the loss of fruit by adopting advanced cold chain logistics technology， while innovating the cross-border supply chain system for the new western land and sea corridor. He said： “I hope that China， Vietnam and Thailand can unify the operation standards for cross-border logistics， and transportation tools. Besides this， we should welcome the Thai governments in recommending more orchards with certifications of origin to boost direct cooperation， helping Thai fruit growers secure orders while enabling Chinese consumers to enjoy high quality fruit at more affordable prices.”

Strictly adhering to fruit import standards

At present， 22 kinds of fruit from Thailand have been approved to enter China， ranking first among ASEAN countries， while several more are currently pending approval， said Phatthakorn Tanmanee， consul of the agricultural division of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Thailand in Guangzhou. He said： “I would like to further emphasize that Thailand attaches great importance to the quality of fruit， and to securing high quality and universal standards for Thai fruit， including safety standards for each production procedure， GAP certification for orchards， and GMP certification for packing plants. Besides this， orchards and packing plants must be registered in both Thailand and China. In a word， Thai fruit are safe.”

According to Zhou Guohui from the Animal， Plant and Food Inspection and Quarantine Division of Nanning Customs， the General Administration of Customs orders analyses to be conducted on phytosanitary risks for fresh fruit with pending export licenses to China for the first time， in order to assess the possible risks， such as insects and weeds， to identify quarantine pests of key concern/ Bilateral consultations are then used to develop quarantine requirements and risk management measures， so as to prevent foreign pests from taking hold and ensure the quarantine safety of imported fruit. “Currently， the United States， Brazil， Canada， Australia and many other countries all have quarantine access systems. The key to this is that fruit without quarantine access to China cannot be exported to China，”he said.

Companies need to obtain a “License for Import Animal and Plant Quarantine” in advance before signing import contracts relating to fruit， and should ensure that the goods purchased come from orchards and packing plants registered with the General Administration of Customs （the relevant lists are available on the official website）. In addition， importers should make sure that there are labels in English on the packaging， including the name of the fruit， the origin， the orchard code， the packing plant code and the words “export to the Peoples Republic of China”. Furthermore， goods from unregistered orchards or packing plants will not be allowed to enter China.

Thai quarantine departments are required to conduct fruit inspection and quarantine before export， issue inspection and quarantine certificates for those that meet requirements， and put labels on the packages in accordance with the protocol agreed between China and Thailand. Moreover， Thai quarantine departments should seal containers， and should record the container number and seal number in the additional declaration of the phytosanitary certificates which are valid for 10 days. It is worth noting that for fruit exported to China in containers， the containers should not be opened nor replaced when they pass through third countries.

Zhou Guohui stated that， when receiving an application for fruit imports， customs need to review the integrity， validity and consistency of the papers submitted by cargo owners or agents， including the quarantine licenses， the official phytosanitary certificates from the exporting countries or regions， the certificates of origin， trade contracts or letters of credit， invoices， bills of lading， letters of proxy for inspection and other required documents. When the imports arrive at the port of entry， customs will verify the integrity of the seals， and carry out a sampling inspection.

In addition， in accordance with the Working Plan for Precautions of Thorough Disinfection of Imported Cold-chain Foods announced by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council， customs are responsible for monitoring and conducting nucleic acid tests on imported cold chain food， organizing and guiding imported cold chain food importers， and facilitating customs inspection operators in carrying out preventive comprehensive disinfection of storage facilities， transport vehicles and packages of the products sampled.