Vietnam grabs bigger slice of China’s durian market as Thailand loses ground
Vietnam’s exports of the pungent fruit to China rose by US$500 million in 2025 as the country emerges as a serious rival to Thailand
Vietnam saw its exports of durians to China soar by US$500 million last year, as the country shook off earlier phytosanitary issues and leveraged its geographic advantages to outcompete its Southeast Asian rivals in the lucrative Chinese market.
Growers from Vietnam shipped US$3.44 billion of the spiky, pungent fruit to China in 2025, up from US$2.94 billion the previous year, Chinese customs data showed.
Leading supplier Thailand, meanwhile, lost market share as its exports to China remained almost unchanged from 2024 to 2025, with last year’s total coming to just under US$4 billion, according to the customs figures released on Tuesday.
Vietnam’s success came from working with Chinese authorities to resolve phytosanitary concerns, while taking advantage of its logistical advantages due to the country’s land border with China and existing infrastructure, analysts said.
The two governments worked with each other to solve the phytosanitary problems and Chinese buyers visited Vietnam to show them how to improve quality, said Nguyen Thanh Trung, a political scientist at Fulbright University Vietnam, citing Vietnamese media reports.
“I think Vietnam can overcome Thailand in terms of quantity and maybe quality,” Nguyen said.