Foreign goods, especially cheap Chinese goods, are increasingly flooding the Vietnamese market, overwhelming Vietnamese goods due to their "free" prices, diverse designs, fast delivery... The number of small traders choosing to sell Chinese goods is also increasing sharply.
To protect Vietnamese goods as well as domestic production, in addition to the efforts of the businesses themselves, many experts believe that the authorities need to soon have solutions such as building tariff barriers for cheap imported goods and having support policies on capital, infrastructure, logistics systems... Otherwise, Vietnamese goods will be "suffocated" at home, and domestic production will also increasingly shrink.
Chinese goods flood from warehouses to online markets
On the page "Nai...", which specializes in livestreaming to sell fashion and personal items, with nearly 5,000 followers, according to our records, most of these items are imported, including mostly from China
The seller is selling 6 pillowcases for 99,000 VND, a 3-piece imported knife set for only 99,000 VND, a hot pot that was nearly 900,000 VND but was reduced to 199,000 VND... and a series of household appliances such as pots, kettles... In just over 1 hour of livestream, this channel has attracted hundreds of customers to place orders.
Similarly, on a Facebook fanpage named "Chuyen thoi trang Guangzhou..." with more than 105,000 members, we recorded dozens of posts every day selling large quantities of Guangzhou (China) clothes and shoes at prices ranging from just a few tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand VND, attracting a large number of buyers.
As buyers, we contacted and received confirmation from a seller here that the goods were imported from Guangzhou every week, and also affirmed that wholesale customers would receive a 20-30% discount compared to the retail price, with a common price of 50,000 - 150,000 VND/clothing product.
"Chinese goods "Diverse designs, cheap prices, 50-60% of which are Guangzhou products. Imported goods are constantly coming in so customers can buy whatever they want," the seller affirmed.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre on November 17, Ms. Ngo Thi Hoa, owner of a livestream channel selling fashion products, said that she used to sell Vietnamese and Chinese products alternately. But for more than a year now, she has switched to selling Chinese products because they are easy to import and have a variety of designs.
"A pair of Chinese shoes costs only about 100,000 - 150,000 VND, while Vietnamese shoes in the same segment cost 150,000 - 200,000 VND. Not to mention that China has 30 - 40 shoe models, with new models coming out almost every month, so they are much easier to sell," said Ms. Hoa.
According to some sellers, without going through China, small traders can still get goods from domestic warehouses, but about 70-80% of goods are imported from China. In addition to fashion items, Chinese household goods such as basins, pots, pans, mops... are abundant in quantity and very cheap, even half the price of Vietnamese goods.
Similarly, big discount programs from many e-commerce platforms are also flooded with Chinese goods. On a large e-commerce platform, just type the phrase "Chinese goods" into the search box, and immediately a series of results will appear with many types of goods from household appliances, stationery, cosmetics, fashion, food, even seedlings...
Looking for an account that specializes in selling Chinese clothes on this platform, we noted that this platform is offering 50% discounts, free shipping, and even giving extra money if the delivery is later than promised... These policies help attract a large number of buyers.
Vietnamese goods lose ground at home
Ms. Ngo Thi Bao (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) said that recently, e-commerce sites have continuously offered deep discounts. However, finding Vietnamese clothes and shoes on sale on these platforms is not easy because Vietnamese goods have lower discounts than foreign goods, and there are also fewer models to choose from.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre, Mr. Nguyen Dang Hien, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Industrial Zone Enterprises Association (HBA), said that Chinese goods follow a policy of low prices and diverse designs, which appeals to the consumer psychology of developing countries like Vietnam, especially in rural areas.
Therefore, according to Mr. Hien, it is understandable that Chinese goods are increasingly dominating Vietnamese goods, almost everywhere, in every product group. But not only dominating in the fields of leather shoes, garments, household appliances, China's food production industry is also rapidly encroaching on Vietnam.
"Domestic beverage companies only give level 1 distributors a discount of 12-15%, but Chinese products can offer much higher discounts. This can easily make distributors reluctant to choose to "live and die" with Chinese products, ignoring other products," said Mr. Hien.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Luan, director of Global Trade Links Company Limited (HCMC), said that even coffee products, which are Vietnam's strengths, are having difficulty competing with Chinese goods, not to mention penetrating this market.
Because selling on e-commerce platforms and livestreaming is not easy due to many policies and high taxes and fees. Meanwhile, in addition to cheap prices, Chinese goods are often accompanied and greatly supported by e-commerce platforms from China such as TikTok, Temu... making it even more difficult for Vietnamese goods to compete.
"China selects influential people online in countries to train, sponsor... thereby creating "livestream warriors" committed to selling Chinese goods. With the support of Chinese businesses and e-commerce platforms, these individuals attract a large number of sellers, changing consumer trends. This is a policy that contributes to bringing Chinese goods to many countries, not just Vietnam," said Mr. Luan.
Fear of domestic production shrinking
Speaking to Tuoi Tre, Mr. Nguyen Van Khanh, vice president and general secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Leather and Footwear Association, said that before the COVID-19 pandemic, the domestic market consumed about 50-60% of leather and footwear products produced by domestic enterprises, but this rate is decreasing sharply.
According to Mr. Khanh, in addition to economic difficulties, the flood of cheap Chinese goods is the main reason why Vietnamese businesses are struggling. For example, a pair of Chinese sports shoes sold in Vietnam costs only 60,000 - 70,000 VND/pair, but if a Vietnamese business produces them, the cost price must be at least 100,000 VND/pair.
"China is self-sufficient in raw materials and technology, while Vietnam almost imports raw materials from China, and designs are always behind. So in terms of price and design, China is already superior. Not to mention, China builds large commercial centers near the border and allows businesses to display and introduce their products almost free of charge," said Mr. Khanh.
According to Mr. Nguyen Dang Hien, Chinese goods wanting to penetrate a certain market are often "escorted" by e-commerce sites, large transportation and warehouse systems along the border, not to mention many incentives in terms of capital and technology in the production process to help reduce costs.
An expert in the field of e-commerce said that not only China, Thailand is also gradually learning and doing quite well with this strategy, especially building warehouses along the border. In contrast, Vietnamese businesses are almost swimming on their own.
"We can count on our fingers the number of warehouses and commercial centers along the border and at our border gates, which greatly affects the logistics process when penetrating foreign markets," he said.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Luan said that there should be a solution to cover all shelves of Vietnamese goods in supermarkets and airports. For example, there should be many OCOP booths and space for display.
"Not only building tariff barriers against cheap imported goods, there needs to be policies to support Vietnamese goods such as promotion support, tax reduction for raw materials...", Mr. Luan said.
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