NANNING — The China-Vietnam border port of Dongxing in Southern China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has received approval to handle imports of fresh fruits.

The Dongxing port of entry cleared its first batch of fruit imports on May 12 — dragon fruits, jackfruits and Thai durians weighing a total of 275 tons and loaded onto 13 container trucks.

Benjamas Tanvetyanont, Thai Consul-General in Nanning, Guangxi's capital, said the fruit trade via Dongxing Port can benefit China-Thailand agricultural, economic and trade cooperation, and allow Chinese consumers to sample fresher Thai fruits.

Dongxing Customs official Li Shuqing said that nine varieties of fresh fruits from Vietnam including mangosteens and dragon fruits, and 22 varieties of Thai fruits including durians and wax apples, can now be imported via Dongxing Customs.

"Dongxing used to deal with only small-scale frontier border trade, which covered just nine varieties of fruits from Vietnam," said Li Jinfeng, deputy director of the Dongxing commerce and port administration bureau.

He said that related logistics, warehouse and finance sectors, as well as supporting services in Dongxing, will embrace new development opportunities with the expanded scope of imported fruits.