Mohan checkpoint offers Thai fruit growers new entry into China
It has been confirmed that the new Mohan railway checkpoint in Yunnan will be opened in early December, offering Thai fruit growers a new gateway to China.
Alongkorn Ponlaboot, an adviser to the agriculture minister who also sits on the Thailand Fruit Board, said on Friday that Thai fruit can now be transported to the mainland via the Laos-China railway.
The railway connects the Laotian capital of Vientiane,
which shares a border with Thailand’s Nong Khai province, and China’s Kunming city in Yunnan.
Alongkorn said he has learned from Thai diplomats based in China that construction of the Mohan checkpoint had been completed on November 22 and it would go into operation on December 3 as scheduled. December 3 marks the first anniversary of the start of the Laos-China railway.
In a move to help with the new transport option, the Fruit Board will hold a meeting with fruit growers, cooperatives, middlemen, fruit associations, exporters and logistics operators to educate them about relevant rules and regulations, Alongkorn added.
So far, no Thai fruit has been delivered to Kunming via the Laos-China railway, even though the service has been running for nearly a year. This is because there was no railway inspection checkpoint at Mohan town.
Previously, Thai fruit was transported by train from Vientiane to Boten on the China-Laos border before being trucked into the mainland.
Last year, Thai fruit dominated the Chinese market with a 40% share, followed by Chile (15%) and Vietnam (6%). China was also the major market for Thai durian — with 875,097 tonnes worth 109.2 billion baht exported last year. That was a historic 68.4% surge from a year ago, despite China’s “zero-Covid” policy and related restrictions.
