Recently, Niti Pratoomvongsa, commercial consul at the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Nanning, led a delegation to visit the Hunan Provincial Fruit Association and inspect durian sales operations at the Hongxing Global Agricultural Wholesale Center.

Hunan province imported 150,000 metric tons of Thai fruit [3] in the first five months of 2026, nearly half of which — 70,000 metric tons — was durians [4]. At the Hongxing Global Agricultural Wholesale Center, Thai fruit accounted for around 40% of the 1 million metric tons of fruit handled in 2025, with durians the leading item at 180,000 metric tons, followed by 100,000 metric tons of longans and a further 100,000 metric tons of mangosteens, coconuts [5] and pomelos.

The representatives held talks with seven major Thai fruit importers at the wholesale center, with the aim of expanding sales of Thai fruit — particularly durians, mangosteens and coconuts — in central and western China. The seven importers confirmed their planned import targets for Thai durians in 2026: Guozhiyou (1,000 containers), Hejinsheng Guopin (800 containers), Yunhui Guoye (500 containers), Hunan Juhaixin Trading (1,000 containers), Longyuan Agriculture (1,200 containers), Changnong Ecological Agriculture (900 containers) and Hunan Xingqin (1,000 containers). Each container holds approximately 18 metric tons of fruit.

The representatives also met separately with executives from Lüye Fruit, a Hunan-based retail fruit chain, to discuss cooperation on promoting Thai fruit in Hunan province and surrounding areas. Lüye Fruit indicated plans to import 1,000 containers of fresh Thai durians and 30 containers of frozen durians in 2026.

Regarding the processed durian market, the representatives met with executives from Changsha Hemoji Food, a producer of durian-based confectionery including durian mille-feuille cake, durian mochi (rice cakes), durian zongzi (sticky rice steamed in bamboo leaves) and durian mooncakes. The company currently imports around 200 containers of frozen durian pulp from Thailand each year and is looking to increase this volume. Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion plans to connect Hemoji with Thai durian exporters through future business-matching events.

The Thai representatives also met with executives from Mingming Hen Mang (Busy Ming Group), a Hong Kong-listed discount snack retailer and China’s largest snack and beverage chain, which expressed interest in importing more snack products from Thailand. The company operates around 25,000 stores across 30 provinces in China under its brands Lingshi Hen Mang (Busy for You) and Zhao Yiming (Super Ming). The representatives invited Mingming Hen Mang to attend THAIFEX – Anuga Asia — Asia’s largest food and beverage trade fair, held in Bangkok from May 26 to 30, 2026 — to explore sourcing opportunities for Thai snack products and meet potential Thai suppliers.

Image: Unsplash

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article [6].