(Yicai) Jan. 30 -- Pagoda Industrial Group, a Chinese fruit retailer, has begun selling its first batch of Spanish persimmons amid relaxing import rules.

The Natural Hand, a Spanish supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables, shipped the fruit to China after the Chinese customs updated its list in the first half of last year to approve Spanish persimmons to enter the mainland, Shanghai Securities News reported today. The first batch of almost 16 tons of fruit arrived in Shanghai on Jan. 25 and has been distributed to different locations after that.

The Rojo Brillante variety of persimmons has always sold well in Asian markets such as Singapore and Malaysia and the mainland debut should enable consumers to taste brand-new flavors, an executive at Pagoda said.

The importer intends to open up the Chinese market with the final season batch harvested last year, Chinanews.Com reported earlier, citing Xu Zhen, customs declaration manager at Shanghai-based Huizhan International Trade.

Spain is the world’s biggest exporter of persimmons with 210,000 tons of fruit, making up one-third of such global trade.

Editor: Emmi Laine