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Mango fruit has many export prospects to the Chinese market. Illustration photo: Trung Chanh

China currently accounts for nearly 54% of Vietnam's total fruit and vegetable export value

Within the framework of the state visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the General Administration of Customs of China signed a Protocol on requirements Plant quarantine requirements for fresh watermelons exported from Vietnam to China. The Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said that the signing of the Protocol on Watermelon Export is an important step in promoting official exports of Vietnam's traditional agricultural products and standardize regulations on agricultural export between the two countries. According to this Decree, fresh Vietnamese watermelons must not be contaminated with 5 living plant quarantine species that China is concerned about, including fruit flies Bactrocera correcta, Bactrocera zonata, Bactrocera latifrons, aphids Phenacoccus solenopsi and The bacteria Acidovorax avenae subsp citrulli; leaves or soil.

According to Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, Director of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), as of December 14, 2023, the country had 162 watermelon growing areas and more than 1,000 packaging facilities in 38 provinces have been granted codes to export watermelons to China. There are currently 14 types of Vietnamese agricultural products officially exported to the Chinese market, including: dragon fruit, longan, rambutan, mango, jackfruit, watermelon, banana, mangosteen, lychee, black jelly, lemon, vines, durian, sweet potatoes and bird's nest. In addition, China has allowed cross-border export of 12 fruit and vegetable products, milk, 805 seafood processing facilities, 40 live crab and lobster packaging facilities and 5 black tiger shrimp and shrimp packaging facilities of leg tag; 128 species/product types and 48 aquatic species.

Assessing the potential of this market, Mr. To Ngoc Son, Deputy Director of the Asia-Africa Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) acknowledged that China currently accounts for nearly 54% of Vietnam's total fruit and vegetable export value, of which up to 90% of lychee output is exported, 80% of dragon fruit output is exported, more than 90% of cassava output and products processed from cassava. In 2023, durian exports to China alone are expected to reach USD 2.5 billion. Besides, China is also the market that consumes more than 70% of exported rubber output and is Vietnam's third largest seafood export market. In particular, fresh durian is a fruit with high economic value and is very popular with Chinese consumers, with the export turnover of this product to China alone in 11 months reaching more than USD 2.1 billion.

“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 fourth most important trading partner, a key source of products such as lychee, dragon fruit, cashew nuts... into this market", Mr. To Ngoc Son said.

Soon sign the Protocol on exporting frozen durian, fresh coconut, and medicinal herbs

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that currently Vietnamese agricultural products exported to the Chinese market account for 21.7% of the entire market, showing that the Chinese market is very important for Vietnamese agricultural products due to close geographical distance and similar consumption habits. Notably, China is also the only market among Vietnam's major export markets to achieve positive growth. Our country's exports to China reversed from a decrease of 2.2% in the first 6 months of 2023 to an increase of about 8.1% for the whole year 2023 while other major markets decreased. In particular, the Chinese market leads in the total export value of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products, with about USD 11.5 billion in 11 months of 2023, accounting for 23.2%, an increase of 18% compared to the previous year with the same period last year, thanks to many protocols between Vietnam and China signed in 2022, many types of agricultural products have been officially exported to this market.

On the other hand, China's abolition of the Zero Covid policy, reducing and eventually abolishing strict epidemic control measures, has helped release the market's huge consumer demand while also helping the export customs clearance process. Import goods faster and more conveniently.

Although it is a potential market, 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 exporting through border quotas and limited access of market areas deep in the mainland.

According to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, Vietnam's agricultural industry expects that after the visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and Chinese President Xi Jinping, agricultural trade will be further promoted. "Vietnam has many measures to improve product quality to meet import requirements, thereby maintaining and gradually expanding export market share in this market, specifically, regularly updating information on market demand and Chinese regulations on quality standards, food safety, and disease safety. Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also signed a contract with Guangxi (China) on agricultural cooperation. The two sides will build a disease-free zone in the border area to increase the export of animals and animal products in the future. This is an opportunity to expand the target audience for Vietnam to increase exports to the Chinese market," Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said.

To take advantage of the opportunity to accelerate agricultural exports to China, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recommends that businesses, localities, and industry associations pay special attention to the quality of raw material areas and original traceability, growing area code, packaging facility. In the future, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will strengthen negotiations with China on official exports, ensuring that exported agricultural, forestry and fishery products are standardized and synchronized in quality and packaging, labels, food safety and hygiene, traceability, logos, trademarks, national brands.

Also according to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, the two sides are currently coordinating closely to complete procedures and soon sign the protocol on exporting frozen durian, fresh coconut, medicinal herbs and some advantage fruits of Vietnam to China. If these decrees are implemented, there will be an opportunity to contribute more to agricultural exports in the first months of 2024.