Agricultures, Foods, News & Event
Vietnam continues to be China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN
(PLO)- Vietnam continues to be China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and China’s fifth largest global trading partner.
At the invitation of Politburo member, Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Foreign Minister of China, Chairman of the Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation on the Chinese side Wang Yi; Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Chairman of the Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation on the Vietnamese side Bui Thanh Son will visit China and co-chair the 16th meeting of the Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation on the Vietnamese side from December 8 to 11.
Cooperation is increasingly deepening and becoming more substantial
In an interview before the visit, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai said that the visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son took place right after the consecutive visits of high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and countries, both Vietnam and China are looking forward to the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (January 18, 1950 – January 18, 2025), which is very important. The visit continues to promote the effective implementation of high-level common perceptions, further enhance political trust, and bring the friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between Vietnam and China increasingly deeper and more substantial.
The Ambassador added that at the 16th Meeting of the Steering Committee for Vietnam-China Bilateral Cooperation, based on the “6 more” orientation agreed upon by the senior leaders of the two Parties and two countries to promote bilateral relations, the two sides will jointly evaluate the overall cooperation between the two countries since the 15th Meeting (December 1-2, 2023) to date.
The two sides discussed major directions and specific measures to improve the quality of cooperation as well as jointly remove difficulties and obstacles, continue to promote practical cooperation in all fields, especially in economics – trade, investment, infrastructure development, culture, education, tourism, people-to-people exchange, etc.
Regarding the results of economic – trade cooperation between the two countries, Ambassador Pham Sao Mai affirmed that the two sides have maintained a strong development momentum, maintained a stable and sustainable growth momentum, and increasingly gone into depth.
Vietnam continues to be China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and China’s fifth largest global trading partner. China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner, largest import market and second largest export market.
Ambassador Pham Sao Mai said that in the overall results of that cooperation, the export of Vietnamese agricultural products to China has always been a bright spot.
In the first 10 months of 2024, Vietnam’s agricultural export turnover to China reached nearly 10 billion USD, an increase of 11.6% over the same period in 2023.
Ambassador Pham Sao Mai assessed that the potential for cooperation in the agricultural sector between the two sides is still very large, due to the advantage of a shared border, the huge demand for agricultural products in the Chinese market, and the abundant supply of high-quality agricultural products from Vietnam. The two countries have also signed many bilateral trade agreements and are both members of multilateral trade agreements.
Towards 75 years of diplomatic relations
Towards the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-China diplomatic relations (January 18, 1950 – January 18, 2025) and the “Vietnam-China Humanitarian Exchange Year” next year, Ambassador Pham Sao Mai assessed that over the past 75 years, the friendship that generations of leaders of the two Parties, two countries and the two peoples have worked hard to cultivate has become a valuable common asset of the two nations, contributing to maintaining the trend of stable development of the traditional friendship between Vietnam and China, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries.
He emphasized that the decision of the top leaders of the two Parties and two countries to make 2025 the “Vietnam-China Humanitarian Exchange Year” is a testament to the fact that humanitarian exchange is one of the most fundamental and important directions in the overall Vietnam-China relationship.
Ambassador Pham Sao Mai said that relevant agencies of the two sides are currently coordinating closely to organize meaningful commemorative activities, people-to-people exchanges, culture and art.
The Vietnamese community in China is looking forward to and is ready to contribute their efforts and actively participate in activities to promote the beautiful country of Vietnam, its unique culture and the warm-hearted qualities of its people to the country and people of China, contributing to increasing understanding between the people of the two countries, especially the young generation, together further consolidating the social foundation for the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, building a community of shared future between Vietnam and China of strategic significance.
Vietnam has had 14 agricultural products officially exported to the Chinese market, including durian, bird’s nest, sweet potato, dragon fruit, longan, rambutan, mango, jackfruit, watermelon, banana, black jelly, mangosteen, lychee and passion fruit.
Of which, some products such as durian, dragon fruit… from Vietnam are very popular with Chinese consumers, the import volume of these products from Vietnam accounts for about 1/5 of the total agricultural products imported from ASEAN.
In particular, during the state visit to China by General Secretary and President To Lam in August 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the General Administration of Customs of China signed three protocols, officially paving the way for the export of fresh coconuts, frozen durians and crocodiles from Vietnam to the Chinese market.
The signing of the Protocols by the two countries allowing the official export of agricultural products has created momentum for many types of Vietnamese agricultural products in the Chinese market.