Durian, Southeast Asia's "King of Fruits", is booming in China, where it has already become the country's top fruit import item in terms of volume and value.
The upsurge is being accelerated by the new Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which have made it easier for China to import fresh fruits from Southeast Asian nations. It is also becoming a test case on how to include the country in a mega free-trade framework.
That aside, homegrown durian has now finally hit the market, although the small planting acreage and the high price mean it might still take some time for Chinese consumers to have unrestricted feasting on the tropical fruit.
The main selling point for the durians cultivated in Hainan is that almost all of them are allowed to fall naturally from the tree, which translates to a superior flavor and stronger aroma.
With a fresh yet mild fragrance and glistening yellow pulp, the domestically grown durian looks and tastes a bit different from its Southeast Asian counterparts. Unlike other types, "its rind is yellow-green, and its pulp is not slimy, but rather a bit chewy and delicate. Its pulp does not stick to its shell, its core or people's hands".
Close to 50 tons of durian were harvested in China's southernmost island province of Hainan, the country's first large-scale domestic durian harvest following years of cultivation. And that would account for only 0.005% of the 1 million metric tons eaten in China this year, according to the South China Morning Post.
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