China remains promising market for Vietnamese farm produce

Farmers harvest lychee in Bac Giang province. Lychee is among the Vietnamese fruits licensed to be exported to China via the official channel. (Photo: VNA)

China was the biggest buyer of Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fishery products in 2023, and it is expected to remain a promising market with numerous opportunities for Vietnamese farm produce to increase the market share and export value.

Fourteen agricultural products of Vietnam have been licensed to be exported via the official channel to China, namely bird’s nest and related products, sweet potato, dragon fruit, longan, rambutan, mango, jackfruit, watermelon, banana, mangosteen, black jelly, lychee, passion fruit, and durian.

Ngo Xuan Nam, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point (SPS Vietnam), said Vietnamese businesses have paid more attention to the registration of farm produce and food for export to China over the last two years.

The General Administration of Customs China (GACC) has approved 3,013 farm produce and food codes for nearly 3,000 Vietnamese businesses permitted to export to this market. The majority of exports are aquatic and plant-based products.

The companies have made use of the GACC’s registration software, he went on, noting that SPS Vietnam has also coordinated closely with the Chinese Embassy in the country to deal with difficulties and obstacles facing businesses in a timely manner, especially procedural ones.

These efforts have substantially helped with the export of many agricultural products to China, especially fruits, including durian that posted over 2 billion USD in revenue in 2023, Nam said, adding that China currently accounts for nearly 54% of Vietnam’s total fruit and vegetable exports.

In late 2023, the first batch of bird’s nest from Vietnam entered China under a protocol signed between the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the GACC.

He considered this as a special landmark as the bird’s nest industry now has a chance to tap into the world’s second most populous market that consumes over 300 tonnes of this product each year.

The MARD is working with the GACC to complete procedures for opening the Chinese market for citrus fruit (pomelo, orange, mandarin), coconut, frozen durian, chilli, medicinal materials, and naturally caught aquatic products, which are also strong items of Vietnam. Once entering this market via the official channel, they will surely generate higher earnings for Vietnam’s agriculture, the official opined.

He added that not only fruits, vegetables, or aquatic products but many other agricultural products such as coffee are also standing a chance to raise their market shares in China.

Beverage consumption in China has tended to shift from tea to coffee in recent years. Though per capita coffee consumption in this market is still low, sales there have increased. Coffee is likely to become a favourite beverage in China in the time ahead, according to the Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Therefore, China is considered a potential market for coffee exporting countries, and still has much room to be tapped into in the coming years.

Nguyen Nam Hai, Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee - Cocoa Association, said China is the 10th largest market of Vietnamese coffee, but it mainly imports deeply processed products such as instant, roasted, and three-in-one coffee. Therefore, businesses should develop such products to gain a foothold in the neighbouring market./.