China-Laos friendship: Railway allows Yuanjiang specialties to go abroad

Tainong mangoes are getting ripened in Yuanjiang Hani, Yi and Dai autonomous county, central Yunnan’s Yuxi city these days.

Preparing for the 6.18 e-commerce day, locals are busy harvesting and selling mangoes. At least hundreds of kilograms of mangoes have been sold from each mango-growing family in Yuanjiang.

“Tainong is a premature mango variety in Yuanjiang, with its price averaging 9 yuan per kilogram this year,” said a local resident.

With Kunming-Bangkok Highway and China-Laos Railway passing through, Yuanjiang has seen its mangoes, tea baverages and dates sold to more Chinese provinces and the neighboring countries.

The Honghegu agro-logistic zone is being constructed near the Yuanjiang train station for storage and cold-chain transport. Given the business opportunities from the railway, some agro-companies have decided to invest in Yuanjiang.

The Pu’er vinegar-tea beverage, rolled out by Yunnan Kangfu Company in Yuanjiang, has hit the shelves in more than 3,000 petrol stations earlier this year.

Pu’er city and Xishuangbanna prefecture, both sitting along the China-Laos Railway, contributed much to the increment of beverage’s sales .

“Our business branch in Thailand should have opened if not for the Covid pandemic,” said Li Liping, president of the company.

Fortunately, the Pu’er company now can transport the raw materials to Thailand via China-Laos Railway, and the Thai branch could be put into operation later this year.

To increase presence on e-commerce platforms in the ASEAN market, the vinegar-tea firm is preparing for the “6.18” business promotions with dozens of network celebrities, Li added.

 Over 50 households have planted dates in Yuanjiang’s Datan village these years, and rural tourism are thriving through the weekend activities and the up-coming Mango Day.

“We’re not worrying about the sales volume of dates now. The fruits buyers will come to us in October every year,” said Dao Zhizhen, a date grower in Datan.

Several years ago, Dao had to sell garment in Yuanjiang county town with her husband, but now she earns a stable income by planting fruits in the home village.

Reporting by Wang Huan, Cao Yunbo, Li Ling, Zi Jianfei and Wang Jingzhong (Yunnan Daily); Trans-editing by Wang Shixue and Wang Qing