| Minister Nguyen Hong Dien's dense bilateral meetings and working activities on the sidelines of MC13 Minister Nguyen Hong Dien received and worked with the Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan |
Meeting again in the auditorium of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in the UAE, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao emotionally hugged Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and chatted animatedly.
That image is part of the story they have been writing together for the past three years about promoting Vietnam-China trade cooperation.
 |
| Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wen Tao affirmed: The good economic and trade relations between Vietnam and China are demonstrated in maintaining an open border, facilitating trade and investment between the two sides, especially for agricultural and aquatic products. Photo: VGP/Nguyen Minh |
Highlights in economic and political relations between the two countries
The delegation accompanying Minister Nguyen Hong Dien to MC13 that day included not only officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade but also delegates from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Vietnamese Delegation in Geneva, the Office of the Inter-sectoral Steering Committee for International Economic Integration... all of whom were very impressed when Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao commented: Vietnam-China trade relations have never developed as well as they do today!
That is an impressive fact when Minister Nguyen Hong Dien also happily said that Vietnam - China trade relations have grown strongly in early 2024. According to the latest statistics of the General Department of Customs, in January 2024, two-way trade between Vietnam and China reached more than 16.43 billion USD. Of which, exports reached 4.55 billion USD, an increase of 17.28% (equivalent to an additional turnover of nearly 700 million USD) compared to the same period in 2023.
Many export groups to China reached hundreds of millions of USD. Notably, China continues to be Vietnam's largest fruit and vegetable export market. In January, fruit and vegetable exports to this market reached 306 million USD, up 121% over the same period last year and accounting for 62.45% of the country's fruit and vegetable export turnover.
In contrast, imports of goods from China in January reached 11.88 billion USD, an increase of 63.64% (equivalent to an additional turnover of 4.62 billion USD) over the same period in 2023.
China will continue to be Vietnam's largest trading partner in 2023, with a total import-export turnover of approximately 171.2 billion USD, accounting for more than 25% of the country's total import-export turnover. Of which, Vietnam's exports to China will reach 61.2 billion USD, up 6.4% compared to 2022 (equivalent to an increase of 3.5 billion USD). There are 12 groups of goods exported to this market with a turnover of 1 billion USD or more.
Export growth to the Chinese market last year was a bright spot in the country's exports in the context of exports to most key markets decreasing.
The two Ministers affirmed that the good economic and trade relations have been demonstrated in maintaining open borders, facilitating trade and investment between the two sides, especially for agricultural and aquatic products. Thanks to that, the trade turnover between the two sides has seen positive improvements in the context of global trade still facing many difficulties.
 |
| Meeting again in the auditorium of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in the UAE, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao emotionally hugged Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, enthusiastically talking and exchanging solutions to promote Vietnam-China trade cooperation. Photo: VGP/Nguyen Minh |
Two Ministers write the same story
To achieve such positive results, the two Ministers shared the same thoughts and enthusiasm, writing the same story: Promoting economic and trade between the two countries.
In 2021, when he first took on the responsibility of Minister of Industry and Trade, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien had to face the difficult problem of promoting agricultural exports to the large Chinese market, which was frozen by the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the first meetings with his Chinese counterpart, Minister of Trade Vuong Van Dao, was a phone call in early June 2021. Minister Nguyen Hong Dien asked China to facilitate customs clearance for Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products exported to China through the Vietnam-China border gate, especially those that are about to enter the peak harvest season such as lychee, longan, mango, etc. The Minister asked the authorities of the two countries at the border gates to consider implementing a number of measures such as shortening customs clearance time, opening a "green channel", implementing "remote customs clearance scheduling" 24/7, etc.
Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said that China highly encourages and is willing to increase the import of high-quality agricultural and aquatic products from Vietnam. He recalled his inspection of the Vietnam-China border gate in March 2021, during which he asked local authorities on the Chinese side of the border to facilitate the customs clearance of Vietnamese goods. China has also set up 10 fruit gathering areas and 4 food gathering areas at Chinese border gates to support the gathering of agricultural products in Vietnam's peak harvest season.
Also in June 2023, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien had an important bilateral meeting with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao within the framework of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to the People's Republic of China and attendance at the 14th annual conference of WEF pioneers in China from June 25-28, 2023.
From this meeting, the two Ministers directly discussed and agreed on many solutions to promote trade between the two countries. Minister Nguyen Hong Dien asked the Chinese Minister of Commerce to actively promote the expansion of bilateral trade, expand economic and trade cooperation with Chinese localities to support Vietnamese goods to penetrate deeper into the Chinese domestic market. In particular, solutions to realize the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Commerce of China on enhancing cooperation to ensure the supply chain of goods between Vietnam and China...
The most impressive thing was that at the 12th meeting of the Vietnam - China Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee (Committee) held in Vietnam on November 27, 2023, the two Ministers had many in-depth sharing and coordination.
 |
| Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wen Tao at the 12th meeting of the Vietnam-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee held on November 27, 2023 in Vietnam. Photo: VGP/Nguyen Minh |
This meeting was held in person after 3 years of interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was co-chaired by 2 Ministers. Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao expressed his willingness to coordinate with the Vietnamese side to resolve issues of mutual concern. He assessed that the Chinese market has great demand and welcomes high-quality agricultural products from Vietnam, so he will make efforts to coordinate and promote Chinese Customs to open the market to Vietnamese agricultural products. In this meeting, the two ministers not only resolved many macro issues but also small issues such as requesting that Chinese authorities give Vietnamese lobsters a transition period when imported into China.
Minister Vuong Van Dao was born in 1964, graduated from university with a major in philosophy, and has a master's degree in business administration. He is a central cadre who has grown from a lecturer, a Youth Union cadre, a local leader, and has held positions such as Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the City Party Committee, so he understands very well the work of promoting trade between the two countries.
Having many similarities, the two Ministers had a deep understanding of each other's work. Minister Nguyen Hong Dien shared with reporters about the most recent meeting in Vietnam, the Minister invited Minister Vuong Van Dao to a warm and intimate meal like "family" meeting again. Minister Vuong Van Dao was very impressed when he enjoyed the Vietnamese Ngoc Linh ginseng wine product, which is delicious and of the same quality as ginseng wine from China, North Korea, and South Korea. He was also very impressed with the premium bird's nest product presented by Vietnam, a national brand OCOP product with a 5-star rating.
The conversation between the two ministers during that friendly meal continued on the topic of trade development, commerce, and removing difficulties for goods and agricultural products of the two countries...
Source
Comment (0)