Some 300,000 Musang King (Mao Shan Wang) durians were fully sold out at an online flash sale in China within less than an hour after its launch on Monday, Oct. 5.

300,000 durians sold in under 51 minutes

One of the most prized delicacies in Southeast Asia, the Musang King is known for its creamy texture and its deep, bittersweet flavour that many in the region know and love.

A total of 60 tonnes of the prized durians were sold out within 50 minutes and 48 seconds with sales of roughly 100 million yuan (S$20 million), reported The Star.

The online flash sale was part of the 2020 China-Malaysia (Guangxi) online durian festival held in Qinzhou city in China's Guangxi region.

Durian diplomacy

Tiong King Sing, Malaysia's special envoy to China, said at the event that the export of Malaysian durians to China plays a part in facilitating bilateral trade between Malaysia and China.

Adding that China had imported 600,000 tonnes of durian worth US$1.7 billion (S$2.31 billion) in 2019, he pointed out that only 7,700 tonnes of durian worth US$67 million (S$91.1 million) came from Malaysia.

Beh Hang Kong, the vice-chairman for the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park said that an idea for a Malaysian durian hub within the industrial park is in its exploratory phase.

Besides industrial processes, the potential durian hub has aspirations to set up a permanent durian bazaar as well.

Pointing out that only roughly 3 per cent of the Chinese population has tried Malaysian durians, Beh called for those in the Malaysian durian industry to work together to make Malaysia the biggest exporter of durians in the world.

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