STORY: Fruit trade flourishes amid growing China-ASEAN cooperation
DATELINE: Sept. 18, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:24
LOCATION: PINGXIANG, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Pingxiang Port
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): WANG ZIYAO,  Owner of a durian e-commerce company
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): WANG ZHENGBO, CEO of Guangxi Yunduoduo Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.

STORYLINE:

Connected with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by land and sea, China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has built closer economic ties with ASEAN countries amid China's wider opening-up.

At Pingxiang Port, which borders Vietnam, trucks from both countries line up for customs clearance. 

Through the checkpoint, tonnes of durians, mangosteens and other tropical fruits arrive in China and will be distributed across the country.

As the vast majority of durians sold in the Chinese market are imported from Southeast Asia, the "king of fruits" has emerged as a prominent symbol of the booming China-ASEAN cooperation and China's vast market potential.

Wang Ziyao from Beijing is one of the durian traders. He has opened an e-commerce company in Pingxiang.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): WANG ZIYAO,  Owner of a durian e-commerce company
"Our goods pass through the port with a good price and can be shipped directly from the port. These are our advantages. So we chose to build our warehouse here. The goods shipped by air today will reach some first- or second-tier cities tomorrow."

An intelligent cross-border logistics platform in Pingxiang has further boosted cross-border fruit e-commerce between China and ASEAN countries.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): WANG ZHENGBO, CEO of Guangxi Yunduoduo Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
"The platform was called the China-ASEAN intelligent cross-border logistics platform, but with the construction of version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, this platform also needed to be upgraded. It can now not only provide logistics solutions for our users, but also meet various other needs. With the construction of the free trade area, a lot of business opportunities have been brought to the entire industry. After the landing of RCEP, we are having more and more trading partners."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Pingxiang, China.
(XHTV)