On June 12th at 5:30 AM, 60 boxes of Xianju bayberries successfully arrived in Singapore on a cold chain charter flight. This marks the first independent export of Xianju bayberries overseas, signifying that Xianju bayberries have opened up a new territory for "going abroad," with multiple batches of Xianju bayberries set to be independently exported to Singapore in the future.

In the Tang Dynasty, without a cold chain system, it was almost as difficult as climbing to the sky for the people of Chang'an to eat a lychee produced in Lingnan. However, today, the "tycoons" far away in Dubai can easily enjoy a bite of authentic Zhejiang bayberry.

Recently, news such as "Zhejiang bayberries sold in Dubai for 60 yuan each" and "Bayberries still on the tree have been booked for 20,000 jin" has sparked a wave of discussion, with some netizens expressing that Chinese agricultural products going abroad is truly "bayberries gaining recognition."

Chen Tao, the person in charge of the Xianju County Rongsheng Yangmei Professional Cooperative, told reporters that the order demand this year is indeed quite large, and there are currently about one ton of Dubai Yangmei orders, which are expected to be shipped this Friday. However, regarding the export price of Yangmei, Chen Tao stated that it is not as exaggerated as reported online, "The price we sell to Dubai is around 300 to 400 yuan per pound," he said. This year, Chen Tao has also expanded the distribution channels, focusing the business center in Southeast Asia, and has already sent out three to four batches of fresh Yangmei, each batch weighing about 2,000 pounds. "This year's overall production has not changed much, and the growth is relatively promising. Our orchard's total output can reach about 300,000 pounds," Chen Tao said.

Not only in Xianju, but also in many places in Zhejiang, the bayberries have been selling well overseas this year.

Tang Yougui, the person in charge of Jinhua Lanxi Qixing Mountain Mingguo Orchard, just exported 100 boxes of waxberries to Dubai last week, with 54 pieces per box weighing 4 jin, priced at 1680 yuan, selling at a high price of 31.1 yuan per piece, and this is already the second order from the Dubai client this year.

"A few years ago, I was constantly cooperating to meet various customs export inspection standards. Last year, I finally welcomed two overseas orders: 30 boxes for Dubai and 80 boxes for Singapore," said Tang Yougui, unable to hide his joy. The Dubai customer placed an order after tasting the bayberries sent by a friend and found them particularly delicious, while the Singapore customer is a distributor looking to sell them in local supermarkets. Of course, Tang Yougui's main business focus is still domestic sales. His 140-acre bayberry orchard has a daily shipment volume of about 5,000 to 6,000 jin, mainly sold to cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou, with prices per box ranging from 380 to 1,280 yuan depending on the size of the individual fruit. "My goal in exports is not about the quantity, but more about proving that Chinese agricultural products have the capability to enter the high-end overseas market," said Tang Yougui.

News about Yangmei going overseas is emerging one after another. In 2022, the news that "Chinese Yangmei costs 60 yuan each for export to Dubai" had already made it to the trending searches. In 2024, some Yangmei growers stated that the Dubai royal family also placed an order, and when the delivery was made, "three nannies came to receive it," and they also sent a few "buyer showcases," which sparked another wave of discussions among netizens.

In fact, the export of Yangmei is no longer a new thing. As early as 2003, Xianju Yangmei had already entered the international market, with sales increasing year by year. In 2021, the value of goods was 192,600 USD, in 2022, the value of goods was 372,400 USD, and in 2023, the value of goods was 542,100 USD. In recent years, Yangmei from Ningbo, Lishui, Jinhua, Wenzhou and other places in Zhejiang has also been sold to the UAE and European and Southeast Asian markets.

Qingtian Yangmei's main export platform, Qingtian Zhongzhi Commodity Trading Co., Ltd. General Manager Xia Xiaoqing told reporters that Qingtian Yangmei has been exported for many years, but in the past two years, its global recognition has particularly increased, mainly sold to Italy, Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, and other places. "The price of medium to large fruits over 25 grams is 3-4 euros each. The Yangmei harvest season lasts only a short month each year, and the fresh and sweet Chinese Yangmei is very popular among European consumers," said Xia Xiaoqing. This year, the export of Yangmei from Qingtian to Rotterdam has already exceeded 6 tons.

Of course, in addition to high prices and large export volumes, the sales channels for Zhejiang bayberries are also continuously expanding. In the early morning of June 12 this year, 60 boxes of Xianju bayberries successfully arrived in Singapore on a cold chain charter flight. This marks the first time Xianju bayberries have achieved independent export overseas; previously, bayberry sales were all exported by third-party agents.

To promote the independent export of Xianju bayberries, the Taizhou Business Representative Office in Singapore (Southeast Asia) continues to make efforts. Following last year's first overseas Xianju bayberry (cultural tourism) promotion conference in Singapore, this year it held the first overseas series of Xianju bayberry specialty product promotion conferences, and conducted market research multiple times in local supermarkets, stores, and communities, visiting and negotiating with several distributors to facilitate transactions between Xianju agriculture and Singaporean buyers.

In order to ensure the speed and efficiency of the export of bayberries, customs in various regions of Zhejiang are continuously improving customs facilitation measures to help bayberries and other specialty agricultural products expand into international markets. For example, the Yuyao Customs has intervened in advance through a special working group to assist merchants in obtaining qualifications for outbound orchards and packaging factories, opening a "green channel" for the inspection of perishable agricultural products for export; Lishui Customs provides enterprises with 7×24 hour appointment inspection services to ensure inspections are conducted as soon as they arrive, and has strengthened information interaction with customs at ports such as Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport, achieving "local + port" coordinated supervision, with bayberries crossing cities in just about 4 hours.

Chinese people love Chilean cherries and New Zealand kiwis. These overseas agricultural products have a strong brand influence in the domestic market. It is believed that in the future, Chinese agricultural products, like bayberries, will also have an increasingly broad path to go abroad.