The proposal for China to open its doors to agricultural products such as citrus fruits, avocados, custard apples, rose apples, and cardamom from Vietnam was made by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien at a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lap Phong.

During the 13th Meeting of the Vietnam-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee held in Beijing, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and the Vietnamese delegation met with Deputy Prime Minister of the State Council of China, Ha Lap Phong.

At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien proposed that China speed up the opening of its market for Vietnam's agricultural products and fruits with strengths such as citrus, avocado, custard-apple, rose apple, and cardamom.

At the same time, the Minister also proposed that China soon sign a Protocol on quarantine requirements for some fruits that have been traditionally exported so that Vietnamese agricultural products have more opportunities to reach Chinese consumers.

Recently, China has created conditions to open its market for many Vietnamese agricultural products such as: bird's nest, fresh durian, fresh coconut and recently frozen durian.

On the other hand, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien pledged that the Vietnamese Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade are ready to create the most favorable conditions for Chinese goods and agricultural products to be exported to the Vietnamese market.

According to the General Department of Customs, in the first 8 months of 2024, the import-export turnover between Vietnam and China reached 130.8 billion USD, an increase of 23.7%, continuing to account for about 25.5% of Vietnam's foreign trade. Regarding investment, in the first 8 months of 2024, China was the 4th largest foreign investment market in terms of capital (1.65 billion USD) and ranked first in the number of new projects in Vietnam.

However, Minister Dien said, this result is not commensurate with the potential of political, diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries.

"Vietnam and China have a favorable geographical position. Vietnam has participated in 17 new-generation free trade agreements and is in the process of negotiating many other FTAs. Through Vietnam, China can access the FTA markets that Vietnam has participated in," said the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, calling on China to promote investment cooperation with Vietnam.

To increase two-way trade turnover, Minister Dien proposed that China support the branding of some of Vietnam's strong products and sectors in the Chinese market, including: dairy products, agricultural products, seafood, processed foods, etc.; bringing Vietnamese goods deeper into domestic localities, retail systems as well as e-commerce platforms in China.

Vietnam also hopes that China will facilitate and effectively separate customs clearance between border gates. This is to avoid goods being concentrated at only a few border gates, causing local congestion, especially for Vietnam's agricultural and aquatic products for export.

Vietnamese leaders suggested that the two sides increase connectivity and ensure smooth supply chains of goods between the two countries. He proposed that the two countries cooperate to deploy three railway lines connecting Vietnam and China (Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong; Lang Son - Hanoi; Mong Cai - Ha Long - Hai Phong).

Referring to the economic cooperation between the two countries, Deputy Prime Minister of the State Council of China, Ha Lap Phong, affirmed that the economic and investment cooperation between the two countries is increasingly developing strongly, deeply, comprehensively and increasingly becoming more substantial.

The evidence is that China imports a large amount of agricultural products from the Asian market and the ASEAN region, of which agricultural products imported from Vietnam account for about 20% of the market share. Vietnamese fruits such as dragon fruit, durian... are popular with Chinese consumers.

According to Mr. Ha Lap Phong, China will soon hold the 7th Import Fair in Shanghai. This is an initiative initiated by General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, and interested Vietnamese enterprises can participate. Through the Fair, Vietnamese enterprises can increase the export of high-quality agricultural products to Chinese consumers and other partner markets.

Regarding the railway project, Mr. Ha Lap Phong said that China is always interested and ready to support. However, according to him, it is important that both sides study the feasibility to create the most favorable conditions for businesses and people of the two countries.

China has been Vietnam's largest trading partner for the past 20 years. In return, Vietnam is also the largest trading partner in ASEAN and the 5th largest in the world by 2023.

Source: Dau Tu Newspaper