Chengdu Daily: Take four big steps to sell over 1000 tons of citrus fruits overseas

On January 11th, in front of the fruit and vegetable cold chain sorting and packaging center in Baiyang Village, Anxi Town, Xinjin District, a large cold chain truck loaded with a full container of citrus slowly drove out and departed for Malaysia. According to Liu Wei, the person in charge of the center, since the opening of the international market in December 2025, more than 1000 tons of citrus varieties such as Ehime and Unknown Fire have been exported. In January of this year, more than 200 tons of orders were being delivered.

From mobilizing villagers to invest in the construction in 2024, to building a cold chain sorting center by the end of the same year, and then taking six months to pass the export registration of Chengdu Customs, until successfully connecting with the overseas market - the fruit export road of Boyang Village in December 2025, every step is condensed with sweat and perseverance. Now, seeing the fruits in the village go global at better prices, Zhang Lin, the Party Secretary of Boyang Village, feels deeply gratified: all the efforts are worth it.

Step 1: Establish a cold chain center

Baiyang Village is located in Anxi Town, Xinjin District, and is a typical agricultural village with 2200 acres of fruit planted throughout the village. In the past, due to the lack of large-scale refrigerated storage facilities in the village, fruits could only be sold to wholesalers who came to purchase them as soon as possible after harvesting, and the selling price was completely dominated by the other party. In order to enhance the bargaining power of fruit farmers and stabilize income growth, in 2024, Baiyang Village has decided to independently build a comprehensive factory building that integrates cold chain warehousing and sorting functions.

Anxi Town has provided active support in this regard. Zhang Jianwei, director of the Agricultural Comprehensive Service Center in Anxi Town, said, "At that time, we proposed to the village that if the village could raise some funds on its own, the town could help fight for financial subsidies." Encouraged by the town, Baiyang Village immediately mobilized villagers to invest, with each share set at 1000 yuan and an initial limit of 4 shares per household. At the beginning, some villagers had low participation, but the village later lifted subscription restrictions and introduced some social capital. At the same time, with the assistance of Anxi Town, Baiyang Village successfully applied for a rural revitalization financial subsidy of 1.5 million yuan.

By the end of 2024, a fruit and vegetable cold chain sorting and packaging center covering an area of approximately 6400 square meters and equipped with 10 high standard cold chain warehouses will be built in Baiyang Village. The operation of this center not only enhances the storage and preservation capacity of local fruits, but also expands new space for villagers to increase income and employment.

Step 2: Apply for export registration

After the completion of the cold chain center, is the next direction steadily advancing in the domestic market, or exploring the sale of fruits overseas? Zhang Lin, Secretary of the Party Committee of Boyang Village, recalled, "The competition in the domestic fruit market is fierce. In the process of building the cold chain center, we have already turned our attention to exports. From facility construction to detail control, we have tried our best to plan according to export standards

It is reported that Baiyang Village has successfully obtained export registration qualifications for an 800 acre fruit base with large-scale growers. If the cold chain warehousing process can also be registered through export registration, forming a dual registration of "production base+warehousing logistics", it will greatly facilitate the fruit export process in this village.

However, exporting is not an easy task. Not a single member of the village committee has traveled abroad, and they are not familiar with the fruit export process. Therefore, Baiyang Village decided to "borrow wisdom to attract talents" and entrusted a professional third-party organization to assist, officially submitting an export filing application to Chengdu Customs.

To obtain export registration, fruit and vegetable storage centers must meet a series of strict conditions to ensure "hardware compliance, sound system, complete records, and reliable traceability". In the first half of 2025, Chengdu Customs will dispatch personnel twice to conduct on-site evaluations, verifying item by item whether the facility conditions and management systems meet the filing requirements. After two targeted rectifications, the Baiyang Village Cold Chain Center finally passed the evaluation smoothly and met the export filing standards.

Step 3: Find the export channel

Look, this is our export registration permit. "Zhang Lin took out a" Registration Certificate "stamped with the bright red seal of Chengdu Customs from the document, which was issued to the" Baiyang Village Joint Stock Economic Cooperation Society "in Anxi Town, Xinjin District. The certificate clearly stated:" After examination, your company meets the registration requirements for the outbound fruit packaging factory and is allowed to register. "The registered products cover multiple categories such as citrus and pomegranate.

However, with this certificate alone, the fruit export journey of Baiyang Village has only been halfway through. In the second half of 2025, members of the village committee will actively seek overseas clients. We have visited Meishan, Pujiang and other places multiple times to proactively connect with experienced export merchants and introduce them to the export qualifications of Baiyang Village Cold Chain Center and Planting Base. After multiple setbacks, a turning point finally appeared - in December last year, when the first batch of unknown products in Baiyang Village was mature, a customer with a Russian order came to our door and purchased more than 100 tons of unknown products at once. Since then, the export of fruits from Boyang Village has gradually opened up and is currently providing stable supply to Malaysia, with a daily shipment volume of no less than 15 tons.

Step 4: Maintain Quality and Expand Scale

Higher selling prices mean stricter requirements for fruit quality, "said Liu Wei, the person in charge of the cold chain center. After professional training, the villagers working in the sorting center have mastered the full process skills of sorting, packaging, loading, etc., and are able to select the best fruits for export. Before each batch of goods is exported, a third-party testing agency conducts on-site inspections to ensure compliance with standards before they can be cleared.

There are currently over 100 villagers working in the cold chain center of Baiyang Village, from picking to sorting and loading. Ms. Li, who is sorting citrus fruits, told reporters that her daily income from working is about 200 yuan, and she can also take care of her family nearby, which is much better than working outside before.

Zhang Jianwei, director of the Agricultural Comprehensive Service Center in Anxi Town, told reporters that the next plan is to rely on Tianfu Agricultural Expo Park, with Baiyang Village in Anxi Town as the core, radiating to surrounding towns, streets, villages, and communities, and gradually expanding the scale of the registration base to 8000 acres, further enriching the variety of goods, enhancing supply capacity, and selling more high-quality fruits overseas at better prices.