PHNOM PENH, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Friday began the first air shipment of fresh durians to China, a Ministry of Commerce official said.
Buon Sarakmony, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, said two tons of fresh durians were exported to central China's Henan Province through Cambodia's national flag carrier Air Cambodia.
"I think the export of fresh durians by air is an efficient way, as it takes only four hours from Cambodia to China's Henan," he told reporters at the event. "So, Chinese consumers will enjoy the freshness of our durians."
Cambodian fresh durians have been exported to China directly since mid-July.
The Southeast Asian country has planted durian trees on an area of more than 11,000 hectares, yielding over 120,000 tons of fresh durians per year, according to the agriculture ministry.
Durian is Cambodia's fifth fresh fruit to gain direct access to the Chinese market after bananas, mangoes, longans and coconuts.
