A durian export centre in Chanthaburi, Thailand. (SPH Media)Think China | 21 May 2025
Why Chinese investors are racing to plant durians in Southeast Asia
by Lim Zhan Ting
In March last year, Wang Junbo experienced a long-awaited milestone at his durian plantation in Binh Phuoc, Vietnam: his five-year-old durian trees finally bore fruit, with one tree producing over 200 durians. He described his joy to Lianhe Zaobao: “It’s like watching a hen mature and finally lay eggs — truly gratifying!”
In 2019, Wang and two Chinese partners invested in a durian plantation in Vietnam. They spent roughly 2.5 million RMB (approximately US$343,820) to acquire the usage rights for two plots of land, each measuring 2.5 hectares, and planted nearly 1,000 Musang King and Kan Yao durian trees.
Wang had it all planned: from 2024 onwards, each tree was estimated to produce 180 kilograms of durian annually. In the first year, they exported nearly 30,000 kilograms and earned 300,000 RMB. Durian trees have a fruiting period of at least 20 years, and the investment would be recouped in two to five years.
Southeast Asia a major source of durians
Southeast Asia is a major source of China’s fresh durians. Although Thailand was initially the main exporter, since 2022, durians from Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia gradually gained access to the Chinese market, shaking up the Southeast Asian durian export landscape.
With the intensifying durian craze, Chinese capital has been pouring into Southeast Asia in recent years. In addition to establishing durian processing and packaging plants, Chinese entrepreneurs are also developing durian plantations, striving to secure a position upstream in the value chain.
Durian plantation owners like Wang are mostly new to the durian business. The foreign trader from Zhejiang and his partner, who ran a durian pastry business in Vietnam, decided to take the plunge into durian cultivation in 2017 when the durian craze began to sweep across China.
While foreigners cannot own land in Vietnam, both Wang and his partner married Vietnamese women, enabling them to obtain land use rights through their wives and jointly manage the plantation. He also hired five Vietnamese workers to handle daily tasks such as pruning and pesticide application, while he focuses on durian export.
Although it is possible to cultivate durians in China’s Hainan province, Wang believes that coming to Vietnam is the right choice as growing conditions are more favourable and there is less risk of extreme weather events like typhoons that Hainan faces.
He said with a laugh, “I enjoy life on a plantation. Watching the durians grow day by day is quite a pleasant way of living.”
Seizing opportunities in Laos
In neighbouring Laos, another Chinese durian entrepreneur, Xiao Yuanxing, who hails from Fujian, has just begun his journey in durian cultivation.
At the end of 2023, Xiao and his partner established Lao Red Loong Durian, leasing the long-term usage rights for 500 hectares of land — about the size of 700 soccer fields — in Vientiane province. Currently, the group has completed the development of the first-phase 60-hectare pilot zone, planting over 7,000 Black Thorn durian trees, with an investment of around 200 million RMB.
Xiao, who is the group’s vice-president, previously worked in agritourism in China. Like many Chinese entrepreneurs who have ventured into Laos to establish durian plantations in recent years, he recognises the business opportunities brought about by infrastructure projects like the China-Laos Railway and expressways. Moreover, close Laos-China relations and the Lao government’s openness to Chinese agricultural investment provide further support for Chinese enterprises.
Xiao is confident in the group’s capabilities. “The Lao agriculture sector is still at a relatively early stage, with abundant land resources but low utilisation rates. Our group will tap the agricultural experience of developed countries to promote the modernisation of the Lao agriculture sector.”
Today, the vast woodland where the durian plantation is located has been transformed into terraced fields, and the plant nursery cultivates tens of thousands of durian seedlings. According to the plan, the durian plantation will see a harvest in 2030.
But right now, there is still an unknown: fresh durian from Laos has not been approved for export to China, and the timeline for approval remains unclear.
But Xiao is not worried. He said, “We are proactively positioning ourselves based on our assessment of future trends, believing that Laos will soon gain approval for durian exports to China. Our first-phase plantation has already received official Laos certification and export registration, qualifying it for future exports.”
He thinks that even if they cannot export to China, they can turn to the ASEAN market, and even if fresh durians cannot be exported, they can pivot to processed durian products.
Venturing into Laos to cultivate durian is a long-term investment with inherent risks. However, Xiao declared, “There’s no overnight success. I hope to use technology to revitalise agriculture and build a globally influential durian brand.”
Help from big data
Even without purchasing or leasing land, Chinese durian entrepreneurs can also participate in durian cultivation in Southeast Asia through other flexible approaches.
In the eastern Thai province of Chanthaburi, the Chinese durian brand “Wen Ji Durian” (文记榴梿) is equipped with a demonstration plantation and laboratory, and has also signed an agreement with local farmers, providing them with cultivation techniques introduced from abroad and big data from the Chinese market, aiming to control durian production methods and standards from the source.
Founder Wen Chao explained that while farmers know how to cultivate, they lack access to crucial information after the durians are exported, such as consumer feedback and which markets the durians are sold to.
“For example, what is the texture of the durian? Do they taste more or less creamy? Which agricultural indicators need to be enhanced? The farmers do not know. But we have access to such information because each durian is laser-marked, allowing us to track consumer feedback,” he said.
Wen believes that in Thailand, which similarly prohibits foreign ownership of land, participating in durian cultivation through this collaborative model is more compliant and efficient, while also allowing the company to control quality, giving them a competitive edge over other Chinese counterparts.
Sparking concern among Thai farmers
The shift from purchasing durian from Southeast Asia to cultivating it there marks a gradual extension of Chinese investment upstream in the supply chain, granting them greater control.
While the number of Chinese entrepreneurs involved in durian cultivation in Thailand is still smaller than those operating packaging and processing plants, this has already raised concerns among the local government and farmers.
Bangkok Post reported that in February this year, Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment announced the seizure of forest land in Chachoengsao, equivalent to approximately 134 football fields, and launched an investigation into a Chinese company suspected of encroaching on forest land. It was revealed that a Thai-owned company had acquired land from local residents and then sold it to the Chinese business, which developed the land into a durian plantation.
The newspaper criticised the large-scale “land grab” as “startling”, asserting that should Thailand lose its own supply chain, foreign investors will set the prices. It urged the Thai government to take measures to protect local farmers.
Apart from the legal risks brought about by the grey area, whether durian cultivation as a long-term investment can generate wealth remains to be seen.
When asked if durian cultivation leads to riches, Wang responded after some thought, “Yes, it can. But you have to manage the risks. Don’t expect to get rich overnight.”
He explained that the durian cultivation cycle is long, and that one must be prepared for about five years of zero income in the initial phase. Furthermore, policy changes during this period are also unpredictable.
For example, when he exported durians to China last year, he encountered stricter inspections by Chinese customs due to excessive pesticide residues in Thai durians, which prolonged the customs clearance process. Some durians had to be sold off hastily near the border crossing, or even returned to Vietnam.
Wen also remains cautious. To him, as more Southeast Asian countries enter the durian export market, the Chinese market alone may not be able to absorb such a large volume of durians. “By then, investment dividends may become non-existent. Durian prices, like home prices, will eventually reach a turning point,” he said.
This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “中国人到东南亚种榴梿掘金圆梦”.