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Fresh dragon fruit from Indonesia are now permissible for import into China (Photo: Produce Report)

On May 23, China’s General Administration of Customs announced that several varieties of fresh dragon fruit from Indonesia meeting the stipulated phytosanitary requirements are now permissible for import into China, according to Produce Report.

The dragon fruit varieties given the green light this time include purple-fleshed dragon fruit (Hylocereus costaricensis), red-fleshed dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) and white-fleshed dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus).

According to the announcement, the sorting, processing, packing, storage and transportation of dragon fruit destined for China must be inspected by the Indonesian Agricultural Quarantine Agency or persons accredited by this organization.

Vietnamese dragon fruit, known for its low production cost and short transport distance to China, accounts for the majority of dragon fruit imported into China. However, as China strengthened its testing standards for agricultural products from Vietnam earlier this year, exports of Vietnamese dragon fruit to China have witnessed a drastic decline.

Conditions in the Chinese dragon fruit market are quite different this year than they were last year. There are several reasons for this development. One of the main reasons is the outbreak of Covid-19 earlier this year. The impact of this pandemic on the dragon fruit market can not be denied.

Most of the imported dragon fruit on the market comes from Vietnam (Photo: VnExpress)

According to Mr. Liang Jian of Shenzhen City Kin Shing Yip International Transport Agency Co., Ltd.: "Most of the imported dragon fruit on the market comes from Vietnam. The import volume of Vietnamese dragon fruit continuously increased in the last few years. At the highest point of this development the Chinese market for imported dragon fruit was dominated by Vietnam. The import volume of Vietnamese dragon fruit accounted for more than 90% of China's overall import volume of dragon fruit."

"The fruit peel of Indonesian dragon fruit is thinner than the fruit peel of Vietnamese dragon fruit. That also means the Indonesian dragon fruit has a shorter shelf-life. Indonesia mainly supplies their domestic market and only exports a relatively small volume of dragon fruit. However, now that Chine has given permission for Indonesian dragon fruit to enter the Chinese market, we believe that more importers and exporters will focus on the Indonesian dragon fruit industry", Mr. Liang said.

"Vietnam has enjoyed great developments in the last few years. The product quality of Vietnamese dragon fruit, their marketing channels, distribution networks, and processing industry all improved as a result of growing export to the Chinese market. Indonesian dragon fruit is relatively new on the market and at the moment Indonesian dragon fruit can not challenge the dominant market position of Vietnamese dragon fruit. However, the Chinese market is huge and there is enough room for both Vietnamese and Indonesian dragon fruit to grow and improve.", reported by Fresh Plaza.

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