China's economic prosperity, stable growth and huge consumer demand from this market are opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to increase exports of agricultural products and goods in the last 6 months of this year.

At the trade promotion conference with the Vietnamese trade system abroad organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on July 2; Vietnamese commercial counselor in China Nong Duc Lai shared a lot of information from the Chinese market; and believes that these are great opportunities for businesses to promote agricultural, forestry and fishery exports in the remaining period of 2024.

China is the largest export market for Vietnamese durian

According to Mr. Nong Duc Lai, the Chinese economy in the first months of this year was very prosperous; Stable growth momentum, strong recovery of services and tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic have pushed consumer demand to increase very high.

Chinese manufacturing is currently moving towards high quality and green transformation. In particular, the most mentioned keyword in China is building "new production forces", that is, promoting the application of technology to improve productivity and quality of products and goods.

In addition, China's e-commerce has developed strongly in recent years and is being promoted by investment following the new trend of cross-border e-commerce.

Analyzing the industry, Mr. Nong Duc Lai said that processed products and foods are a very potential industry in China and will create many opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to exploit.

"Specifically, for current seafood products, businesses should not only export fresh products but should invest in producing processed products to bring into this market," Mr. Lai recommended.

Also according to Mr. Lai, data published from Chinese customs showed that import-export trade between Vietnam and China in the first 5 months of the year grew by over 20%. In particular, Vietnam's exports to the Chinese market not only have high growth rates, but also have balanced growth between industries and products.

Among them, agricultural products are the products with the most demand in China. Every year, this country spends 230 billion USD to import agricultural products, and in the first 5 months of this year alone, it imported nearly 100 billion USD.

"In the group of agricultural products, there are many products that China imports over 20 billion USD every year, such as: fruits, seafood, cereals (rice)... These are products that Vietnam has strengths in. Businesses must take advantage and fully exploit this potential market," Mr. Lai said.

Vietnam's trade counselor in China also said that exports of agricultural and forestry products from now until the end of the year are expected to grow strongly. In the last 6 months of the year, China has many long holidays and New Year holidays, currently it is the summer vacation for students, followed by the Mid-Autumn Festival...During the holidays, the demand for agricultural products increases very high, Vietnamese businesses should take advantage of this opportunity and time to boost exports.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, China is a large export market for many Vietnamese agricultural products such as dragon fruit, lychees, bananas, cassava, rubber...; In the first 5 months of this year, the import-export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products between Vietnam and China reached 6.2 billion USD (up 2.9% over the same period in 2023).

Of which, Vietnam exports about 4.6 billion USD to the Chinese market (up 8.6% over the same period in 2023); Imports are estimated to reach 1.6 USD (up 31.5% over the same period in 2023).

Vietnam has 12 fruit and vegetable products being exported to China including watermelon, mangosteen, black jelly, durian, fresh banana, sweet potato, dragon fruit, rambutan, mango, lychee, longan, jackfruit; bird's nest, fish meal and a number of products serving the production and processing of animal feed; milk and seafood of all kinds. However, Vietnamese agricultural products account for a very low market share, only 5% of the total amount of imported Chinese agricultural products.

Each Chinese province is a market

Vietnamese commercial counselor in China Nong Duc Lai also emphasized that to effectively exploit the Chinese market, businesses must remember that this is a very large market and each province; Each locality is its own market. China has a diverse culinary culture, each locality has different consumer needs and needs different products.

"For example, in Guangdong province, this market has a huge demand for seafood products while Shandong province needs the most rubber. Businesses must learn how to exploit effectively," said Mr. Lai shared and recommended that the Ministry of Industry and Trade strengthen the establishment of relationships with Chinese localities, exploiting each market, for each specific product. Currently, trade promotion and support for Vietnamese businesses should focus on exploiting large markets such as the west, central region, and northeast of China.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long said that China is a big market. The unified views of the senior leaders of Vietnam and China both support promoting trade and economic development, the remaining issue is the implementation work below.

"All countries are looking for ways and wanting to bring goods into the Chinese market while we, Vietnam, are right next door and cannot effectively exploit this market, which is partly our fault," Mr. Long said. speak; and request agencies of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to research and implement recommendations and information sharing from the Chinese market.

Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper