A shipping route linking Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City and Dalian port in Chinese northeast province of Liaoning is the newly added one with an aim to ship fruits from Vietnam to the neighboring country.

Dragon fruit is one of the main staples shipped to China

Dubbled the “Fruit Express” for Southeast Asia, the shipping route is operated by China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), a Chinese state-owned shipping and logistics services supplier company.

According to Chinadaily, the first shipment, 565 tonnes of Vietnamese grown dragon fruit, arrived at the Dalian port seven days after departing Ho Chi Minh City.

With the new route, various kinds of fruit imported from Vietnam can be shipped from Ho Chi Minh City to Dalian in just seven days, three to five days shorter than other Southeast Asian routes to the port.

The fruits were distributed to major supermarkets in Dalian and surrounding provinces and cities within 24-hours after unloading.

Dragon fruit and watermelon are Vietnam’s main China-bound export staples and become favorite in the neighboring country.

In late February, dragon fruit from Vietnam was firstly loaded in a train departed Dong Dang railway station in Vietnam’s northern province of Lang Son and arrived in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Vietnam has the largest area and output of dragon fruit in Asia and the leading exporter of this kind of fruit in the world.

The country is home to 50,000 hectares of dragon fruit, mainly in the central province of Binh Thuan, obtaining annual production of more than 700,000 tons, according to statistics of the Hanoi-based Plant Protection Research Institute.

Around 15-20% of dragon fruit is for domestic consumption and 80-85% for export, available in more than 40 countries and territories.

In addition to traditional markets like China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Taiwan, the fruit has been shipped to the US, Italy, Japan, Singapore, India, New Zealand, Australia, and Chile.