The Chinese Consul General in Davao City, Zhao Xiuzhen, said that China and Mindanao have been working together in farming, and they have made good progress. She mentioned that they have been sending more kinds of farm products from Mindanao to China.
She also talked about durians from Mindanao, saying that Chinese people really like them. At a big event called the 20th China-Asean expo, the “Puyat” kind of durian from the Philippines was the most popular and sold the most. This was confirmed by Dr. Ceferino S. Rodolfo from the Department of Trade and Industry.
Rodolfo said that durians became very famous at the expo, and now more countries want to buy them, just like how bananas are popular for export. He also said that the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., visited China and made it possible to send the first shipment of durians to China in April through Nanning.
The first company to send durian products to China was Eng Seng Food Products, and they were part of the expo. On April 6, a special thing happened when around 28 tons of durians were sent to China from Davao City’s airport. It was a big deal because it was the first time so much durian was sent from that area. The durians came from local farmers and processors in Davao Region and followed China’s rules for exporting.
By August 2023, the Department of Agriculture had already sent 900 metric tons of durians to China. They plan to send 50,000 metric tons in total under the agreement. Emmanuel Belviz, the president of the Durian Industry Association of Davao City, shared this information.
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