The first shipment of Vietnamese passion fruit arrives at Youyiguan Port in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Sunday. [Photo by Ran Jinghang/for chinadaily.com.cn]

A shipment of 18.4 metric tons of fresh Vietnamese passion fruit arrived at Youyiguan Port in Pingxiang, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Sunday. It's the first time Vietnamese passion fruit has been shipped to China after authorization by the General Administration of Customs on a pilot basis.

Having been strictly inspected by Pingxiang Customs, this shipment was taken directly to a local processing plant.

"Vietnamese passion fruit usually ripens in October when our domestic supply is nearly exhausted, so importation will benefit both sides," said Zhang Xinwen , chairman of an agricultural company based in Pingxiang.

As China's biggest land port for fruit imports, Youyiguan has witnessed more and more Vietnamese agriculture products brought in to China. According to the China-Vietnam joint statement on further strengthening and deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, the two countries will further expand their agricultural exchanges and boost trade.

Chinese customs officers inspect imported Vietnamese passion fruit. [Photo by Ran Jinghang/for chinadaily.com.cn]

According to official data, from January to October, 203,000 tons Vietnamese agricultural products have been imported to China through Youyiguan Port, up 46.7 percent than the same period last year, of which 199,000 tons was fruit, with a year-on-year increase of 19.9 percent.

To shorten customs clearances and improve efficiency, Pingxiang Customs, a branch of Nanning Customs, has opened a green channel for imported perishable agricultural products based on strict inspection and epidemic prevention measures. Customs officials inspect the fruit according to its risk grade, which helps cut the time of the procedure significantly.

According to Nanning Customs, for the first three quarters this year, 1.17 million tons of agricultural products were imported from and exported to Vietnam through ports in Guangxi, up by 51.5 percent year-on-year. The value of these goods stood at around 13 billion yuan ($1.83 billion), up by 43.8 percent year-on-year.

About 477,000 tons were imported from Vietnam, with a value of 3.7 billion yuan, growing by 77.3 percent year-on-year; and 694,000 tons exported, valued at 9.28 billion yuan, increasing by 33.7 percent.

Chinese customs officers inspect imported Vietnamese passion fruit. [Photo by Ran Jinghang/for chinadaily.com.cn]