Cambodia exports over 2,600 tons of fresh longan to China in 2 months

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia had exported more than 2,600 tons of fresh longan to China within two months, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian said here on Tuesday.

Cambodia launched its first direct shipment of fresh longan to China on Oct. 27 after the General Administration of Customs of China certified 74 longan orchards and eight packaging plants to export Cambodian fresh longan to China.

"As of Dec. 21, more than 2,600 tons of high-quality longans had been exported to China, and on Dec. 12, the fruit was put up for sale on China's famous Tmall e-commerce platform," he said during a handover ceremony of China-donated livestock vaccines to Cambodia.

The ambassador added that Cambodian longan has been gaining popularity among Chinese consumers.

Longan is Cambodia's third fresh fruit to gain official access to the Chinese market directly after yellow banana and mango.

Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Undersecretary of State and Spokesman Penn Sovicheat said China is a huge market for Cambodian agricultural products.

"We're pleased to provide high-quality products such as milled rice, fresh fruits, and other agricultural items to China," he told Xinhua. "We hope more Cambodian potential agricultural products such as durian, and peppercorn will be able to export to the Chinese market in the near future."

According to the agriculture ministry, Cambodia has more than 18,000 hectares of longan trees, yielding more than 131,000 tons of fresh longan annually.