Exports of agricultural products from ASEAN members to China are accelerating, with Laos becoming a fresh example as the country sent the first full-train cassava starch export to China on Saturday.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, a fully loaded train carrying 1,000 tons of cassava starch departed from Vientiane via the China-Laos Railway on Saturday and is expected to arrive in Zhengzhou, Central China’s Henan Province, in about 80 hours. This is the first time Laos has exported a full trainload of cassava starch to China, the report said.
The 1,000 tons of cassava starch was entirely produced by a local factory in Laos. The cargo for this train was organized by China Railway Container Transport, the operator of the China-Europe freight trains. The company provides customers with comprehensive services, including end-to-end logistics planning, container loading solutions, pick-up and delivery, bill of lading preparation, real-time shipment tracking, and emergency response handling, Xinhua reported.
According to Lao-China Railway Co, the operator of the Laos section of the China-Laos Railway, since the railway commenced operations, the company has provided high-quality container resources and stable transport capacity for Lao agricultural products, promptly meeting customers’ transportation needs, Xinhua said.
date, the Lao-China Railway Co has transported more than 16 million tons of cargo in total, including more than 1.7 million tons of agricultural products exported to China, according to the report.
Also on Saturday, the first batch of approved frozen Indonesian durians arrived in Fuzhou, East China’s Fujian Province, from Jakarta, Indonesia, aboard flight MF856. This marked the first imported shipment of frozen durians from Indonesia to enter China, another substantial breakthrough in agricultural cooperation between China and Indonesia, according to a report posted on the website of the Fuzhou government on Sunday.
Zheng Miaoqian, an official of Rongcheng Customs in Fuzhou, was quoted as saying in the report that the entry of the first-ever shipment of frozen Indonesian durians into China will help attract more companies to settle in the China-Indonesia “Two Countries, Twin Parks” initiative.
It will promote the development of deep-processing industries for food within the parks, foster tropical fruit industry chains, and further drive the continuous upgrading of bilateral trade cooperation between China and Indonesia, according to Zheng.
Zhou Shixin, director of the Center of Southeast Asia Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday that the two latest examples from Laos and Indonesia reflect closer agricultural cooperation between China and ASEAN.
According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China, trade in agricultural and food products between China and ASEAN has yielded remarkable results. In the first 10 months of this year blateral trade in agricultural and food products reached $51.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.9 percent.
China’s imports of fresh and dried fruits and nuts from ASEAN exceeded $10 billion, accounting for more than two-thirds of its global imports in this category, according to a report by the People’s Daily Overseas Edition.
ASEAN has remained China’s largest trading partner for agricultural and food products for eight consecutive years, while also serving for many years as China’s top export market and second-largest import source for these products, according to the report.
“Driven by the dividends of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, enhanced infrastructure connectivity and robust market demand, trade in agricultural products – especially tropical fruits and specialty food items – between China and ASEAN is accelerating and deepening. This provides ASEAN countries with a stable and vast market while offering Chinese consumers a richer variety of more cost-effective choices, achieving win-win outcomes and the continuous upgrading of regional economic cooperation,” Zhou noted.
The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) 3.0 Upgrade Protocol was formally signed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in October. “Provisions in the CAFTA 3.0 Upgrade Protocol – such as enhanced food supply chain connectivity, simplified customs procedures, and mutual recognition of sanitary and phytosanitary standards – will bring substantial benefits to agricultural and food trade and further deepen cooperation in this sector between China and ASEAN,” the expert said.
In addition, the China-Laos Railway has become a “golden corridor” of agricultural trade connecting China and ASEAN, Zhou said, adding that with the continuous improvement of supporting facilities such as cold-chain logistics and warehousing along the route, it provides ASEAN fruit products with a more convenient, efficient, and lower-cost land transportation channel.
Zhou noted that in its economic and trade cooperation with ASEAN, China has consistently adhered to the principles of mutual benefit, win-win outcomes, and consensus through consultation, providing ASEAN countries with a stable, predictable open market and cooperation framework.
“In addition to proactively expanding market access, China has stepped up technology investment in ASEAN, deepening cooperation in areas such as the digital economy, artificial intelligence, and new energy. Through the close integration of technology, capital, and markets, both sides are jointly injecting stronger momentum into the East Asian regional economy amid the new round of global competition,” Zhou said.