Guangxi, Thailand strengthen agricultural trade cooperation

In 2019, Thailand ranked fourth in Guangxi's exports of agricultural products to ASEAN countries, with an export value of 159 million yuan ($22.37 million), up 9.91 percent year-on-year, and ranked first in Guangxi's imports of agricultural products from ASEAN countries, with an import value of 7.32 billion yuan, up 59.65 percent year-on-year.

The main imported products were durian, longan, mangosteen, and dried cassava, while the main exported products include aquatic products, tea, fruit processed products, and sesame.

Water lilies, a kind of precious aquatic flower variety, are very popular in Thailand as the country has a strong Buddhist culture.

"Last year, we sold more than 60,000 dried water lilies to Thai merchants. Our products are favored by Thai consumers, and the number of water lilies sold in Thailand is expected to increase this year," said Zhao Binyang, chairman of a water lily planting cooperative in Wuxuan county, Laibin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Aerial photo of the water lily planting base in Wuxuan county, Laibin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Chen Dongmei/chinanews.com]

This year, new breakthroughs have been made in the agricultural trade between Guangxi and Thailand. On May 21, the border city Pingxiang opened a cross-border cold chain train, providing a convenient new channel for the fruit trade between Guangxi and Thailand. Starting from June, it is expected that 4,000 tons of Thai fruit will enter Pingxiang Railway Port every month.

In addition, many seed enterprises in Guangxi are also actively introducing Thai varieties for experimentation, such as bitter gourd, pumpkin, sweet corn, and tomato.