Yunnan, vegetable producer for China, ASEAN

At 6:00 am, workers at the plantation base of Yunnan Shenchuang Vegetable Cultivation Co., Ltd. are busy harvesting baby cabbages with lights on head and knives in hand. The Shenchuang baby cabbages will be served on the dining tables in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in two days. Carried by cold chain trucks, they will also be sold to ASEAN countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

With great weather, Yunnan province is one of the main vegetable producers in China. Various ecological vegetables of high quality are produced here all year round.

Yunnan vegetables in supermarket. (Photo by Xinhua)

At present, Yunnan sells 70% of its vegetable products to more than 150 cities and 40 countries and regions via diverse distribution channels. Thus, Yunnan is becoming the “vegetable garden” for China, and even for the world.

As the largest export base in southwest China and a high-quality base for transporting vegetables to north and east China, Yunnan obtains two advantages -- producing high-quality products and keeping stable supply all-year-round.

According to statistics from Kunming Customs, the export volume of Yunnan vegetables has reached 116,300 tons in the first two months this year with a year-on-year increase of 25.78%.

“In recent years, our vegetables can retain freshness through professional cold storage method, and they can be sold smoothly,” said Guo Wang, the General Manager of Shenchuang.

A worker is unloading bags of broad beans produced from Yunnan province in a vegetable wholesale market of Shanghai. (Photo by Xinhua)

Deepening cooperation with universities in Yunnan and inviting in experts from Netherlands, Israel and Japan, Shenchuang has made breakthroughs in scientific researches. To enhance its core competitiveness in the international market, Shenchuang is planning to develop new baby cabbages which can be eaten raw like fruits.

Now a China-Laos-Thailand freight train is available for transporting Yunnan vegetables. Compared to the fragmented transport of railway and road in the past, the new transport mode has cut the transport duration by one day and reduce the cost by more than 20%.

With the multiple effect from RCEP, Yunnan will build new channels for cold chain transport of higher efficiency and stability, and its vegetable sales enjoy a promising future.

Source: Kunming Daily; trans-editing by Wang Yunya