Efforts to balance Vietnam-China trade balance

In 2024, Vietnam-China trade exceeded the 200 billion USD mark for the first time, marking the first market in our country to achieve this record number.

Economist Vu Vinh Phu had an interview with a reporter from the Industry and Trade Newspaper about this issue.

Economist Vu Vinh Phu

- Sir, in 2024, Vietnam - China trade officially surpassed the 200 billion USD mark, becoming the first market in our country to reach this milestone. What do you think about the role of the Chinese market in Vietnam's import and export activities?

Expert Vu Vinh Phu: According to the General Department of Customs, the import-export turnover between Vietnam and China reached 205.2 billion USD. China is also the first trade partner with which our country has established a turnover scale of 200 billion USD or more.

Not only in 2024 but also in recent years, China has affirmed its role as a very important trading partner of Vietnam. China is a large market with 1.4 billion people, large purchasing power, an attractive market not only for Vietnamese goods but also for goods from many other countries. With a large import rate for many of Vietnam's strengths such as textiles, footwear, electronics, agriculture, forestry and fishery products, etc., this is a large market that Vietnam cannot miss.

Besides, compared to other competitors, Vietnam has many advantages in exporting goods to China thanks to its close geographical location. Vietnamese goods have good quality, competitive prices, are very popular in the Chinese market, which is an opportunity to increase export turnover to this market.

Seafood is one of the main export items to China (Photo: VNA)

- Despite the large bilateral turnover, the trade deficit between Vietnam and China has also increased. What is your assessment of this situation?

Expert Vu Vinh Phu: Also according to the General Department of Customs, in 2024, Vietnam's exports to China will reach 61.2 billion USD, down about 100 million USD compared to 2023. Meanwhile, imports from China will reach 144 billion USD, up 33.35 billion USD compared to the previous year (equivalent to a growth rate of 30.1%).

Export turnover decreased while imports increased, causing the trade deficit with China to widen compared to before. If in 2023, the trade deficit with China was only 49.35 billion USD, in 2024 it would reach 82.8 billion USD.

The reason for this situation is that Vietnam mainly exports agricultural products to China - which are low-value products, while importing from this market raw materials for production, machinery and equipment - which are often higher value products.

Regarding agricultural products - the main export item of our country to China, in recent times, China has erected a barrier to protect domestic consumers. Accordingly, it has sharply reduced unofficial imports and increased official exports. In recent times, many Vietnamese enterprises have been accustomed to exporting agricultural products through unofficial channels to this market, so export turnover has been affected.

In addition, China also had to issue Orders 248 and 249, requiring businesses to meet food safety standards and tighten import standards to the Chinese market. Meanwhile, due to the sharp increase in export turnover of some Vietnamese products to China, such as durian, this has led to a situation where, at some times, in some localities, there has been fraud in the growing area codes for exported durian. Although these situations are not too common, they still have a certain impact on export activities to the Chinese market.

Another reason is that recently, many other markets have also increased their exports to China such as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, etc., directly competing with Vietnamese products with strengths such as vegetables, rice, agricultural products, etc. This is also the reason why the export turnover from Vietnam to Thailand has decreased, causing the burden of trade deficit to increase.

- It must be affirmed that China has been, is and will continue to be a large and potential market for Vietnamese export goods. In 2025, what suggestions do you have to boost exports to this market?

Expert Vu Vinh Phu: China is a large market, a close market and will still contribute greatly to Vietnam's import-export turnover in the coming time. Enterprises must determine that China is also increasingly demanding on standards such as growing area codes, packaging codes, export standards, etc.

Besides, Vietnam currently imports a lot of goods from China. Most of them are raw materials for production, which is not a cause for concern. However, Vietnam also imports a lot of agricultural products and consumer goods from China. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the competitiveness of domestic goods to increase exports to this market, thereby helping to reduce the deficit and move towards a trade balance.

Specifically, businesses must invest in improving the standards and quality of goods to be competitive with products from other countries in the Chinese market.

In addition, improving transportation capacity and reducing logistics costs to enhance competitiveness for businesses. This requires not only the Ministry of Industry and Trade but also the Ministry of Transport and localities sharing the border to participate in improving the traffic system, investing in building warehouses near the border...

- Currently, China is building warehouses near the border to promote the delivery of goods to markets, including the Vietnamese market, in the fastest way and at the most competitive prices. What do you think about this trend from your side?

Expert Vu Vinh Phu: China has been setting up warehouses near the border to export to Vietnam for a long time and has brought great efficiency in helping goods sold on their e-commerce platforms to be brought into Vietnam very quickly, at low cost and at very cheap prices. This is a challenge for Vietnamese goods, but it is also a lesson we can learn.

In fact, in the past, there have been many working trips by leaders of ministries and branches to border provinces to set up warehouses there, but currently, the implementation speed in Vietnam is still slow. Meanwhile, warehouses at the border play a very important role in ensuring the quality of goods and improving the competitiveness of goods exported to China. Therefore, I think that Vietnam also needs to speed up the construction of warehouses in this area to increase the competitiveness of goods exported to China. At the same time, promote cross-border e-commerce to take advantage of bringing Vietnamese goods deep into the Chinese market.

Furthermore, currently, Vietnamese goods still go through intermediaries and hubs before reaching the distribution system of your country. Therefore, businesses need to strengthen their work and trade connections with your distribution systems, markets, and supermarkets to bring goods directly into these distribution channels, thereby reducing costs, improving competitiveness, and making it easier to build a brand.

Vietnamese goods are exported to China in large quantities, but goods with their own brands in Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, etc. are still limited. Meanwhile, China is a large market and each province and city in China is a potential “land”. Therefore, it is necessary to increase in-depth trade promotion activities in Chinese localities to diversify opportunities for Vietnamese goods.

Thank you!

According to preliminary statistics just announced by the General Department of Customs, in December 2024, Vietnam-China trade reached 19.66 billion USD, of which our country's exports reached 6.17 billion USD and imports reached 13.49 billion USD. In total, in 2024, the import-export turnover between the two countries reached 205.2 billion USD. This is the first time Vietnam-China trade has reached the 200 billion USD mark.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/no-luc-can-bang-can-can-thuong-mai-viet-nam-trung-quoc-370028.html