On November 11th, the Wall Street Journal of the United States reported that as Chinese people change their taste, farmers around the world are abandoning their original crops and switching to other crops in the highlands of central Vietnam. Large and small warehouses are scattered throughout agricultural towns, filled with tropical fruits. These bountiful fruits will flow into a huge market: China.
In this region, farmers are cutting down traditional crops such as coffee trees to grow durian, a pungent fruit that is widely popular in China. Farmers gained wealth by purchasing new irrigation systems, repaying loans, and building shiny marble exterior walls for their houses. 54 year old Fan Wenzhong said, "We locals not only have a good life, but we can even be considered wealthy." He earned $81000 this year by selling durian and said many Chinese buyers are appearing in the region.
In recent decades, as Chinese consumers have become increasingly affluent, their demand for foreign agricultural products has also been increasing. Over the past 20 years, China's food imports have increased from approximately $15 billion to over $130 billion. Avocado growers in Kenya, shrimp farmers in India, soybean producers in Russia, and banana farmers in Cambodia all benefit from this.
Despite a slowdown in China's economic growth, demand for food such as beef and tropical fruits remains high. Last year, China imported over 800000 tons of durian and 7.4 million tons of meat, both ranking first in the world. Meeting China's vast consumer base provides a historic opportunity for countries seeking to increase the income of rural residents. But it also poses a challenge: how to enter China's huge market without overly relying on this trading partner?
The central highlands of Vietnam are famous for planting Robusta coffee beans. But last year, when China opened the door to importing Vietnamese durian, farmers here began to give up their coffee crop. 26 year old farmer Huang Haide said that he earns about five times as much money from planting one hectare of durian as coffee. This year he harvested 4 tons of durian, much higher than last year and all of it was shipped to China.
About 90% of Vietnam's durian is exported to China, and a large amount of dragon fruit, bananas, mangoes and jackfruit are also sold to China. Durian merchant Ruan Caixuan said, "A few years ago, people used durian as a poverty alleviation crop, but now it's like a cash cow." She once tried to sell durian to Japan, but said there were very few buyers there. However, she is not particularly concerned about relying too heavily on China. She said that there is still room for growth in the Chinese market for durian, as many people are still unfamiliar with this fruit.
