Vietnam, China look towards stronger trade ties

China has remained Vietnam’s biggest trade partner, while Vietnam has continued to be the sixth largest trade partner of the neighbouring country, and the biggest in the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) despites impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical upheavals in the world.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, China has been Vietnam’s biggest importer with turnover of some 55.9 billion USD, up 37 times from the figure in 2002.

Notably, the group of processed and manufactured goods makes up 77.6% of Vietnam’s total export value to China. Meanwhile, machines and production materials accounted for up to 94.15% of Vietnam’s import revenue from the neighbouring country.

Over the past two years, the bilateral trade still exceeded 100 billion USD despite impacts from the pandemic.

Statistics released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that the two-way trade was valued at 165.8 billion USD in 2021, up 24.6% from the previous year.

Vietnamese passion fruits have been exported to China via the official channel on a pilot basis from July 2022 and fresh durians from Vietnam has also been also officially shipped to the country from September 2022.

In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam’s export turnover to China reached 41.22 billion USD, up 6.22% year-on-year, making up 14.6% of Vietnam’s total export value. Meanwhile, the country's import revenue from China was 91.15 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 12.12%, making up 33.08% of Vietnam’s combined import revenue.

Under the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), China has cut tariffs for more than 8,000 items imported from Vietnam, including farm produce.

Le Hoang Oanh, Director of the MoIT’s Department of Asia-Africa Markets, suggested Vietnamese exporters carefully study the market, change their mindset and observe relevant regulations set by the market.

For the long term, the MoIT has asked domestic businesses to accelerate the shift to the export via the official channel in accordance with international trade rules to ensure stable, sustainable export.

At the 11th session of the Vietnam-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee earlier this month, the Chinese side affirmed that China attaches importance to economic and trade ties with Vietnam, and proposed some orientations and measures to step up the two-way trade.

The official visit to China by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong, from October 30 to November 2, is also expected to deepen the trade ties between the two countries./.