Zhuhai local bamboo shell fish 'doorstep' flies directly to Kuala Lumpur for the first time
Doumen Customs officers conducted on-site inspections of bamboo shell fish that are about to be exported to Kuala Lumpur at Doumen Aquaculture Farm in Zhuhai. Photography by Zhou Jiahui
At 2:00 am on July 15th, at the international cargo port of Zhuhai Airport, a group of bamboo shoot shaped fish with silver scales boarded an all cargo flight to Kuala Lumpur. A few hours ago, they were just retrieved from a temporary pond several tens of kilometers away, sorted, oxygenated, and boxed. This is the first time that local fish have achieved direct flights from Zhuhai to Southeast Asia, bridging the shortest distance between Doumen Farm and Southeast Asian dining tables.
After raising fish for so many years, in the past, exports had to be loaded onto trucks and transported to Guangzhou or Shenzhen, waiting for the airport to schedule, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive. "Zhou Jintao, the manager of Zhuhai Yuanrun Aquatic Technology Co., Ltd., stood at the loading site, unable to conceal her excitement. Nowadays, with the opening of the international cargo port at Zhuhai Airport and the launch of the "Zhuhai Kuala Lumpur" international all cargo flight route, Doumen Sunshell Fish has bid farewell to the export model of "seeking distance from nearby" and achieved seamless connection from Tangtou to the airport. Compared with the traditional method of exporting through Guangzhou and Shenzhen and waiting for airport scheduling, direct flights from home have shortened transportation and waiting time by 8 hours, significantly improved the survival rate of live fish, saved 2 to 3 yuan per kilogram of transportation costs, and can save enterprises more than 200000 yuan per year.
In order to lock in this hard won "freshness", customs and airport departments have worked together to pave a "fast lane". Doumen Customs has opened up a "green channel" for fresh produce, implemented the "5+2" round the clock appointment for local inspections, implemented the reform of "enterprise classification, risk grading, and management stratification" for exporting aquatic animals, and ensured smooth customs clearance with precision, efficiency, and practicality. This not only safeguards the national security bottom line, but also guarantees the freshness of fish. At the same time, convenient measures such as paperless quarantine approval and "cloud issuance" of certificates allow enterprises to operate online throughout the entire process and complete customs clearance procedures without leaving their homes. On the other hand, Doumen Customs coordinated with the airport cargo terminal to fully facilitate the "first mile" of air cargo transportation, established a dedicated channel for fresh food collection and transportation, and implemented "immediate arrival, immediate unloading, and immediate warehousing". In response to the characteristics of departing Kuala Lumpur flights in the early morning, the cargo terminal has accurately set the delivery window at night, cleverly avoiding the high temperature and sun exposure during the day, and prioritizing the deployment of temperature controlled and live animal transport suitable all cargo planes and wide body passenger planes to ensure that the bamboo shell fish remains fresh and fresh after long-distance flights.
As a treasure bred at the intersection of salt and fresh water at the mouth of the the Pearl River, the bamboo shoot shell fish is delicate and delicious, known as the "aristocrat of freshwater fish", and selected as "national famous, special and new agricultural products". Nowadays, Doumen has high-quality bamboo shell fish provincial breeding farms, with annual sales accounting for about half of the country's total. From its initial popularity in China to now "swimming" to Southeast Asia, the bamboo shell fish has become a beautiful aquatic business card of Doumen. With the increasing maturity of the integrated industrial chain of "breeding processing air transportation", Doumen has gradually formed an export industry cluster represented by eels, bamboo shell fish, and spotted catfish. According to statistics, in the first half of 2026, 54.63 tons of bamboo shoot shell fish will be exported to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" under the supervision of Doumen Customs.
As bamboo shell fish embark on a cross-border journey, more and more "Cantonese flavors" are jumping onto the world's dining tables. This is not only a 'fresh food route', but also a microcosm of the development of Zhuhai's aviation economy, "said Zhou Jianhui, head of the airport supervision team at Doumen Customs. In the next step, Doumen Customs will continue to deepen the linkage between" port+territory ", continuously optimize regulatory services, and support more high-quality agricultural products to" go global ". (Written by Yang Yimeng and Li Yiying)