The door to export to China is more open

Kinhtedothi – The fact that China has held its position as Vietnam’s second largest export market for many consecutive years has shown that Vietnam – China trade relations have had stability and strong growth.

Leading export market

Recently, trade activities between Vietnam and China have become a bright spot in the two countries’ relationship. Since implementing commitments in the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, China has reduced taxes on more than 8,000 products imported from Vietnam, opening up many opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to access the market wide.

Data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs shows that by 2023, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and China will reach nearly 172 billion USD. In the first 2 months of 2024 alone, bilateral import-export turnover reached 27.3 billion USD, an increase of 28%; Of which, Vietnam exported 8 billion USD to China, an increase of 7.6%; Imports from China were 19.3 billion USD, an increase of 38.8%.

Notably, among exported agricultural products, durian is the fruit product with the highest export value, with an estimated turnover of 254 million USD in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 66% over the same period 2023. Durian export value to China accounts for 98% of Vietnam’s total durian export turnover. Vietnam has surpassed Thailand to rise to the No. 1 position in durian exports to China with a volume of 32,750 tons, worth 161 million USD, an increase of 2.4 times in volume compared to the same period last year.

According to General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association Dang Phuc Nguyen, Vietnamese durian is considered to have the advantage of abundant output, with scattered harvests all year round. Another advantage is that Vietnamese durian is exported to China with fast shipping time and competitive prices. These are the factors that have helped Vietnamese durian make great progress in the Chinese market after less than 2 years of opening in this market.

Or like wood and wood products, according to the Department of Import and Export (Ministry of Industry and Trade), in the first 2 months of 2024, China imported wooden furniture from Vietnam reaching 7.4 million USD, an increase of 18.6% over the same period in 2023.

This figure shows that Vietnam’s wooden furniture exports have many opportunities to promote into the Chinese market, especially in the context of rising shipping costs, many Chinese businesses are looking for imported supplies in neighboring areas to replace supplies from distant markets with higher transportation costs.

Adding value through official exports

The reason some Vietnamese agricultural products exported to China have achieved high value is thanks to official exports. Regarding this issue, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien affirmed: in order to obtain official protocols for exporting agricultural products to China, ministries and branches had to persistently pursue to meet the requirements of the friendly country.

Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is promoting the expansion of 3 more subjects eligible for official exports to China, including: medicinal herbs, coconuts, and frozen fruits from traditional exports to official channels. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development signed with Guangxi province (China) a protocol on exporting animals and animal products and building disease-free zones on both sides of the border. This will help increase exports of animals and animal products to this large market.

To continue to maintain and expand the Chinese market, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recommends that businesses, localities, and industry associations pay special attention to the quality of raw material areas, traceability, and planting area codes. packaging processing facility.

“The Chinese market is a large market with 1.4 billion people and Vietnam has many advantages in exporting to this market. Enterprises need to take advantage of harvesting, preliminary processing, promoting and implementing well the Protocols between the two countries to increase the turnover and export value of agricultural products” – Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized.

Sharing about the export situation of key fruit and vegetable products, General Director of Vina T&T Group Nguyen Dinh Tung said that from the beginning of the year until now, the enterprise’s export orders to China have remained stable and even. steadily, growing by 15 – 20% over the same period in 2023. Although China is a potential market, for stable and sustainable growth, Vietnamese businesses must ensure product quality and comply with regulations. regulations set by your country.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development needs to have policies and guidelines to plan good raw material areas, support farmers to create quality products qualified for export, and at the same time, needs to speed up negotiations to have many other products exported. officially enter this market” – Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung proposed.

China is no longer an easy-going market

Commenting on the Chinese market, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien analyzed that China is Vietnam’s second export market, but Vietnam is always a trade deficit country of China.

Up to now, China has had bilateral cooperation agreements with Vietnam, as well as multilateral agreements such as the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (RCEP). ), China is also promoting participation in the Comprehensive and Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CTCPP)…

However, according to Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, China is no longer an easy-going market like before, not all goods are accepted by the Chinese market.

With a population of more than 1.4 billion people and a growing middle class, China is the world’s leading consumer market with huge import demand. On the contrary, Vietnam has also become China’s 4th most important trading partner, a key source of products such as lychee, dragon fruit, durian, and seafood into this market.

Also according to Mr. To Ngoc Son, Vietnamese export enterprises have not yet exploited the full potential of the Chinese market due to the habit of small-scale export across the border and limitations in accessing deep market areas in the great world. green. In addition to China’s strengthening of law enforcement, Vietnamese agricultural products are also under increasing competitive pressure from other countries in the region.

Therefore, it is necessary to change the way of viewing and approaching the market from the side of agricultural product producers and exporters to be able to effectively exploit this market. Producers need to get rid of thinking that China is an easy-going market and must determine that this is a market with high standards and strict control to produce quality-standardized products right from the beginning.

At the same time, export enterprises need to quickly change the form of export from non-quota to official quota; At the same time, update new trends and tastes of the market.