China opens new checkpoint in Yunnan for fruit from Thailand
Thai fruit exporters are celebrating after Beijing opened a new checkpoint along the Mekong River, providing a faster, more efficient route to the market
China has opened a new checkpoint at a Mekong port in Yunnan, so Thai exporters can more conveniently ship fruit upriver, a senior Thai official said on Monday.
Rapeepat Chantharasriwong, director-general of the Agriculture Department, said the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) had set up a new fruits clearance checkpoint at the Guanleigang Port in Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna since July 29.
The new checkpoint allows Thai exporters to ship fruits through the Chiang Saen checkpoint in Chiang Rai to Guanleigng directly.
This new route up the river serves as a quicker alternative to road transport, he said.
Rapeepat added that the new checkpoint was opened in response to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow’s trade negotiations to push for tighter trade relations in China.
He said he had learned of the new checkpoint while attending the 8th Joint Technical Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures between GACC and Thailand’s Agriculture Ministry, held in Xi An, Shannxi on July 31 and August 1.
Rapeepat noted that the agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary measures between the ministry and GACC allowed Thailand to export agricultural products to China far more conveniently.
He said a third of agricultural product imports in China from Asean came from Thailand due to the agreement. He added that his department and GACC had developed a system of electronic clearance of phytosanitary certificates for Thai fruits for the convenience of Chinese fruit importers.
He went on to say that his department has also negotiated with GACC to allow Thailand to export frozen mangosteen and other frozen fruits to China.
