The fruit’s scent announces its presence long before it comes into view. The aroma snakes down the lorongs, past the coffee houses and xian bing stalls of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, ending at the gloved hand of the local fruit seller, who deftly slices off the barbed shell of a durian. A dozen or so Chinese tourists line up to try the football-sized fruit, presented in cellophane packages or blended into soft-serve ice cream and puff pastries.
Durian, a divisive fruit often derided in the West for its potent, onion-like flavor and creamy texture, has long been a popular treat in Southeast Asia. Only in recent years has it emerged as a gastronomic sensation in China, which now consumes more than 1.5 million metric tons of the fruit every year, with shoppers shelling out around $25 for a single large durian. Almost all of that is shipped in from China’s Southeast Asian neighbors.
The fruit’s scent announces its presence long before it comes into view. The aroma snakes down the lorongs, past the coffee houses and xian bing stalls of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, ending at the gloved hand of the local fruit seller, who deftly slices off the barbed shell of a durian. A dozen or so Chinese tourists line up to try the football-sized fruit, presented in cellophane packages or blended into soft-serve ice cream and puff pastries.
Durian, a divisive fruit often derided in the West for its potent, onion-like flavor and creamy texture, has long been a popular treat in Southeast Asia. Only in recent years has it emerged as a gastronomic sensation in China, which now consumes more than 1.5 million metric tons of the fruit every year, with shoppers shelling out around $25 for a single large durian. Almost all of that is shipped in from China’s Southeast Asian neighbors.
As Chinese appetites for the durian have grown, so too has its appeal as a bridge between culture and politics. All fresh durians headed to China once came from Thailand, which sends three-quarters of its harvest abroad. Thailand remains China’s largest durian trading partner, with around $4 billion in exports per year, but its market share is declining fast as new countries come on board. Over the past four years, Beijing has inked a raft of durian import deals across the region in a multibillion-dollar charm offensive that some political experts have dubbed “durian diplomacy.”
In August, China received its first fresh durian shipment from Cambodia. That followed an agreement to begin importing frozen durians from Indonesia, which recently established a plantation development scheme to boost durian production. Malaysia, which has been sending frozen whole durians to China since 2019, got into the fresh exports game in 2024. The Philippines struck a deal in 2023 to send fresh durians to China following a presidential state visit from Ferdinand Marcos Jr. aimed at bolstering agricultural cooperation. And in 2022, Vietnam began sending its durians northward, becoming China’s second-largest supplier, with exports valued at nearly $3 billion last year.
A worker opens a durian at a wholesale market in in Chanthaburi, Thailand, on May 9.Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images
“Durian is very reflective of what is happening with the leadership and with state-to-state relations,” said Kankan Xie, a Southeast Asian studies professor at Peking University in China.
Traditionally, China has been closer with the mainland Southeast Asian countries of Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, Xie said. (Laos and Myanmar are hoping to send their durians to China soon but do not yet have export clearance.) Vietnam has long been an exception to this trend, due to historical grievances and disputes over territorial waters in the South China Sea, which have similarly strained China’s relations with the Philippines. Yet China is increasingly using durian deals to sweeten relations. This summer, China invited both countries, along with the other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to the first ASEAN-China Durian Festival in Beijing.
China’s rivalry with the United States may help to explain why more durians are crossing into the People’s Republic than ever before. U.S. President Donald Trump’s reorganization of global trade and withdrawal from international institutions under his America First policy creates an opening for China to pick up allies and strengthen ties with neighbors. A shared love of durian is one way in. “China is now trying to depict itself as the responsible great power and engage with a lot of Southeast Asian counterparts,” Xie said.
Durian is prepared for export to China in Chanthaburi on May 10.Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images
If legend is to be believed, then durian has been a source of political machinations since its creation. One Philippine folktale tells the story of a king who turned to a wise hermit for help in winning the love of his bride. The hermit asked the king to bring him three items: the egg of the black tabon bird, 12 ladles of fresh milk from a water buffalo, and nectar from the flower of the tree of make-believe. He carefully mixed these ingredients and instructed the king to plant them in the royal garden. The next morning, a beautiful, fragrant tree appeared with sweet fruit that enthralled the young bride. Delighted, the king threw a feast for his kingdom but failed to invite the sage. In a fit of rage, the hermit cursed the tree’s fruit with a foul odor and prickly shell.
The more likely explanation for the durian’s appearance is that its spiked exterior protects it from hungry animals. Still, it has been unable to shake royal connections across Southeast Asia, where it is best known as the “king of fruits.”
Far from its native forests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, however, descriptions of the durian are less exalting. Niccolò de’ Conti, a 15th-century Venetian merchant who recorded one of the first European references to durian in his travels, noted that it resembled “thick butter” and had a “nauseous odor.” Even that might be flattering by some standards. The glossary entry of the 1903 Hobson-Jobson dictionary, used during British rule in India, quotes a former colonial official who compared durian to “carrion in custard.”
The West’s distaste for the spiky fruit means that, for now at least, there is likely little political goodwill to be gained by exporting vast quantities of it to the United States or Europe. Indeed, many hotel rooms in Southeast Asian cities, from Bangkok to Singapore, explicitly ban durians to protect the delicate senses of their international guests.
But for China, the durian is a convenient delicacy. Regional alliances can be strengthened by satisfying domestic cravings.
Appealing to the political palate isn’t new, according to Sam Chapple-Sokol, a lecturer at George Washington University’s Global Food Institute. Such activity, he said, falls into the realm of culinary diplomacy, a phenomenon that goes back thousands of years. “If you think of two ancient peoples coming together, they’re going to be talking around a fire, and often there would be food around that fire,” he said.
Durian is stacked in baskets at a wholesale market in Chanthaburi on May 9.Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images
Over the centuries, this kind of diplomacy has become more refined, encapsulating state dinners and specialty dishes. In the 1800s, chef Antonin Carême traveled with the French delegation to negotiations, naming his culinary inventions after different politicians, allegedly creating the Poularde Albufera and Nesselrode pudding. In recent decades, Southeast Asian countries have become particularly adept at wielding this kind of gastronomic power. The proliferation of Thai restaurants around the world, Chapple-Sokol noted, is no mere accident, but a deliberate government strategy.
Durian diplomacy, he added, is seen not just in trade deals, but also in showy culinary presentations that appeal to visiting officials. In 2022, following a state lunch between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and then-Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Yi raved about the cheesecake he was served that was made with Musang King (one of the most popular durian varieties), noting he was ready to import more tropical fruit and palm oil from the country.
In the case of durian diplomacy, Chapple-Sokol questions whether China is the main driving force. Culinary diplomacy, he said, is often tied to middle powers. Malaysia, in particular, has been a big player in this form of soft power over the past decade. “The countries that could gain the most from it are the Thailands, the Perus, the Mexicos. It’s the countries that are smaller than the BRICS, but big enough to prop up something like this. Maybe they don’t have the military might or the GDP and the economic might, but they have something really powerful to offer the world in terms of their cuisine, their culture, their history, their people,” he said.
A Chinese export truck drives past a durian wholesale market in Chanthaburi on May 9. Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images
Increasingly, those middle powers are using durian diplomacy to build bridges with one another, cutting out the bigger players. In February, Malaysia hosted a “durian diplomacy” event at its Seoul embassy, following a similar reception in Tehran in 2024. Addressing the room, Mohd Zamruni Khalid, the Malaysian ambassador to South Korea, acknowledged the durian’s utility for statecraft. “Let us remember that diplomacy is not just about formal engagements and high-level meetings. It is also about the simple joy of sharing a meal, exchanging stories, and building connections,” Khalid said. “Today, let the durian be a symbol of our shared commitment to a brighter, more collaborative future.”
Malaysia says it is now looking beyond Asia, eyeing Peru as a future durian export market.
Whether durian diplomacy continues apace, however, depends not only on the winds of politics, but precipitation. Climate change is a growing threat to durian farmers, and Thailand’s market share fell from 68 percent to 57 percent between 2023 and 2024 due in part to reduced yields caused by extreme heat. In Vietnam, where the Mekong Delta accounts for about half of the country’s total durian output, last year’s drought pushed saltwater into the delta’s freshwater reserves, and into fields, slowing durian production. Tackling growing greenhouse gas emissions, therefore, will need to remain on menu if the durian boom is to persist.
