As durian exports from Southeast Asia surge during the April-May peak season, a logistics company in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, has deployed 500 refrigerated containers on the China-Laos Railway to speed up fruit deliveries, local authorities said.

Over 80 percent of those reefers are used for durian transport, with the rest serving other tropical produce from Southeast Asian countries, said Gong Haiqiang, deputy general manager of Hebei International Land Port Co.

The railway link, which connects southwestern China's Kunming in Yunnan province with Vientiane in Laos, has become a key corridor for fresh fruits entering the Chinese market.

In March, the company first took delivery of 200 custom-built 45-foot diesel-electric refrigerated containers from CRRC Shijiazhuang Co, a local rolling stock manufacturer.