Nearly 20 years maintaining the position of largest trading partner

In an interview with TG&VN Newspaper, Mr. To Ngoc Son, Deputy Director of the Asia-Africa Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) commented on the role of Vietnam and China as partners in the overall bilateral trade cooperation process.

Vietnam's durian exports to China account for 95% of the country's total export value of this commodity group. (Photo: LC)

How do you evaluate two-way trade between Vietnam and China in recent times?

In the overall picture of Vietnam's foreign trade, China has always been one of the most important trade partners. Vietnam has also become one of China's leading trade partners in the world and the region.

Geographical advantages, complementarities in economic structure and import-export goods combined with a fairly complete legal corridor on trade (both are members of two free trade agreements including the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) are the driving forces for continuous growth over many years in bilateral trade.

In 2004, China officially became Vietnam's largest trading partner. After 20 years, that position continues to be maintained, with Vietnam becoming China's largest trading partner in ASEAN and China's sixth largest trading partner in the world in 2022.

According to Vietnam's statistics, in 2022, bilateral trade volume will reach 175.56 billion USD. Of which, exports to China will reach 57.7 billion USD; imports from China will reach 117.8 billion USD. China is the largest source of goods and the second largest export market of Vietnam.

According to Vietnam's statistics, in 2022, the bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached 175.56 billion USD. Of which, exports to China reached 57.7 billion USD; imports from China reached 117.8 billion USD. China is currently the largest source of goods and the second largest export market of Vietnam.

In the first 8 months of 2023, in the context of general difficulties of the world economy, Vietnam's export turnover to China still reached 36.6 billion USD, up 2.37%; trade deficit was 32.2 billion USD, down 30.49% over the same period.

With the second largest population and economy in the world, China has a huge demand for importing processed foods, beverages, agricultural products, and tropical seafood from Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is increasingly participating in regional and global production and supply chains; industrial and processed products such as electronic equipment, telephones, electric cables, metals, textiles, footwear, etc. have become key products and growth drivers for exports to the billion-people market.

On the other hand, with its central role in the regional and global production chain, known as the “world factory”, China is a source of goods and important input materials for domestic and export manufacturing industries such as chemicals, fabrics, textile and footwear materials, machinery and equipment, etc.

Over the past year, Vietnam's durian has been mainly exported to China, accounting for 95% of the country's total export value of this commodity group. In your opinion, what should Vietnam do in the coming years to bring durian closer to Chinese customers?

With the efforts of relevant ministries and branches, the two countries have signed many protocols on animal and plant quarantine for many agricultural products of Vietnam, opening up opportunities to access and officially export to the Chinese market agricultural products with strengths of Vietnam such as durian, banana, sweet potato, etc.

This contributes to creating new growth points for Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports, especially durian - a high-value fruit that is very popular with Chinese consumers.

China is a country with a high-quality trade development orientation. Accordingly, in recent years, the country's authorities have continuously strengthened measures to strictly control the quality and origin of imported goods from the world (including Vietnam), especially goods related to human health such as food, agricultural products, etc.

In my opinion, China is not an “easy” market as some domestic enterprises mistakenly assumed in the previous period. Therefore, in order to continue to maintain and expand sustainable exports of fruits and vegetables, including durian, to the Chinese market, enterprises, people, local authorities and domestic management agencies need to:

Firstly, proactively comply with regulations on growing areas, packaging facilities, quality standards, packaging and labels, traceability, business registration, etc. of the Chinese market; at the same time, strictly manage the use of registered growing area codes and packaging facility codes when exporting to this market.

Second, organize planting and production areas according to market signals; do not let the situation of massive increase in planting area occur, leading to oversupply and product quality not being guaranteed when planted in unsuitable soil areas.

Third, focus on brand building, trade promotion, and bringing products deep into the Chinese domestic market.

Mr. To Ngoc Son, Deputy Director of the Asia - Africa Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) at the 2023 Zhejiang International Trade Exhibition - the 11th Zhejiang Export Goods Fair in Vietnam. (Photo: Tin Tuc Newspaper)

In the coming time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will also closely coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant ministries and localities to closely coordinate with the Chinese side to accelerate the negotiation process and sign the Animal and Plant Quarantine Protocol with the Chinese side to open the market for agricultural products of Vietnam that have the capacity to produce and export to this market.

At the same time, encourage China to increase the number of border gates for importing agricultural and aquatic products; step up propaganda, dissemination and guidance on regulations and standards of this country's market to Vietnamese localities and enterprises.

What should Vietnamese businesses do to increase export turnover in the billion-people market?

China is the world's largest consumer market, a market that most businesses in the world want to conquer. To fully exploit the potential market and increase the scale of bilateral trade in a more balanced direction, Vietnamese businesses need to take advantage of the advantages of the trade legal corridor, geographical location, and close consumer culture.

In terms of awareness , the fact that China has been and continues to develop a high-quality trade with increasingly strict requirements and standards is an inevitable and irreversible trend. Faced with this reality, businesses have no choice but to proactively and seriously comply with the regulations and standards of this market for imported goods.

In terms of action, businesses need to quickly and strongly shift to "official" exports through international and bilateral border gates; minimize and eventually stop "informal" exports - which pose many potential risks.

It is necessary to coordinate with Chinese import enterprises to diversify import and export goods delivery ports and diversify forms of transportation (sea and rail) to reduce the risk of congestion at road border gates.

In addition, businesses are proactively and actively seeking opportunities to bring goods to domestic market areas in China. With a large population and growing potential, each locality in China can be equivalent to the market size of a country. Meanwhile, many Vietnamese businesses have not yet deeply exploited, or even approached, the potential domestic localities of this country.

At the same time, it is necessary to study the export of goods to the Chinese market through modern distribution systems, especially cross-border e-commerce.

For its part, in the future, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will continue to coordinate with Chinese partners to organize more trade and investment promotion activities in the industrial sector to create more opportunities for connection and trade between the business communities of the two countries, thereby further expanding the scale and improving the quality of bilateral trade.

Thank you!

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/gan-20-nam-duy-tri-vi-tri-doi-tac-thuong-mai-lon-nhat-243997.html