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Durian is one of Vietnam's key agricultural export products. Photo: Ngoc Thach

Great opportunities but not small pressure

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, after signing the memorandum of understanding on agricultural cooperation in September 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the People's Government of Guangxi Province have achieved initial results.

In terms of trade, China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and an important import-export market for agricultural, forestry and fishery products. The total two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and China accounts for 1/4 of Vietnam's total import-export turnover with the world. In the opposite direction, Vietnam is one of China's major trading partners with the world and China's largest partner in ASEAN.

Import and export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products have grown steadily in 2023. In the first 11 months of 2024, the total import and export turnover was US$16 billion (up 13.4 percent compared to the same period in 2022 and up to 29 percent to 40 percent compared to the same period in 2020 and 2021).

Of which, exports reached US$12.2 billion (up 11 percent), strong growth items such as vegetables and fruits reached approximately US$4.1 billion, up 28.7 percent; wood and wood products reached US$1.7 billion, up 22.3 percent; aquatic products reached US$1.4 billion, up 23.2 percent. In addition, China has also opened its market to many fruit products, products of animal origin (milk, bird's nest, farmed monkeys, crocodiles) and seafood...

Speaking at the "Forum for connecting trade and import-export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products between Viet Nam and China", Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) and Director of the Vietnam SPS Office, said that the total two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and China accounts for 1/4 of Vietnam's total import and export turnover with the world.

China has licensed many typical Vietnamese products such as milk, bird's nest, farmed crocodiles and seafood, with 596 Vietnamese enterprises allowed to export seafood to this market. Items such as durian, jackfruit, dragon fruit continue to be popular with Chinese consumers.

"However, besides the opportunities, import and export activities still face many challenges that need to be discussed and resolved. Technical regulations and export procedures are increasingly strict, while requirements for product standardization and regional competition are increasing.

Many potential products such as grapefruit, avocado, and star apple have not been officially exported to the Chinese market," added Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development.

Accordingly, to export agricultural, forestry, aquatic and food products to the Chinese market, the products must comply with the 2015 Food Safety Law and the Import and Export Animal and Plant Quarantine Law of China.

In addition, exporting enterprises must have sufficient conditions on factories, machinery, production equipment, testing rooms for basic quality indicators for products, factories, warehouses and related technical requirements to ensure food safety.

Competent authorities of Vietnam must inspect and meet the technical requirements according to the regulations of Vietnam and China before being allowed to grant export enterprise codes to China.

As a "bridge" for trade in goods between Vietnam and China, Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and aquatic products exported through the border gates of Lang Son province always account for 75-80 percent of the value of export turnover declared in the province.

Mr. Luong Trong Quynh, Vice Chairman of Lang Son Provincial People's Committee, affirmed that in recent times, Lang Son province has proactively implemented many synchronous solutions to effectively manage and support, facilitating the import and export of goods, especially for Vietnam's strong agricultural, forestry and fishery products.

Currently, the province is promoting the application of scientific and technological achievements and digital transformation in import and export management through the Digital Border Gate Platform, helping to receive and process information publicly and quickly; at the same time, actively directing the implementation of the Pilot Project to build smart border gates, contributing to promoting customs clearance of import and export goods between Vietnam and China.

"Lang Son province is committed to consistently implementing the policy of creating the most favorable conditions to support enterprises' investment, production, business, import and export of goods, building a civilized and friendly business environment.

At the same time, strengthen coordination with central agencies, agencies of Guangxi, China, and localities growing agricultural products for export in the country to promptly implement specialized management work and continue to promote the import and export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products", affirmed Mr. Luong Trong Quynh, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

Take advantage of cross-border e-commerce channels

On the Chinese side, Mr. Chau Binh, Level 2 Inspector of the People's Government of Chongzuo City, Guangxi Province, China, said that since the beginning of 2024, the trade turnover between Chongzuo City and Vietnam reached US$129.26 billion yuan, an increase of 8.6 percent compared to the same period, accounting for 65 percent of the total trade turnover between Guangxi and Vietnam.

In particular, Vietnamese fruits are very popular with Chinese consumers. Vietnamese fruits imported through the border gate of Chongzuo City reached 710 thousand tons; In particular, Vietnam's durian imports increased sharply, reaching 403 thousand tons, up 10.2 percent compared to the same period, accounting for 57.4 percent of China's total durian imports from Vietnam...

Through trade promotion activities, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development and Director of the Vietnam SPS Office Le Thanh Hoa found that there are 5 points that can be focused on exploiting and investing to develop agricultural trade between the two sides.

These are: using smart border gates; promoting more potential products of the two countries; cooperating in investing in infrastructure and logistics; building agricultural supply chains; building cross-border e-commerce.

"Smart border gates can be on roads, sea and rail. We need to facilitate procedures for the import and export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and quarantine procedures for entry and exit across the border.

In addition, promoting e-commerce through online distribution channels will be an important measure to boost the consumption of agricultural products," emphasized the Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development.

In addition, the two sides need to strengthen cooperation and invest in logistics infrastructure, especially expanding cold storage, warehouses for preserving agricultural products, places for gathering goods transported by road and rail and means of transporting goods to facilitate customs clearance procedures at each country's border areas; cooperate to build an effective agricultural supply chain from production to distribution; close cooperation between businesses will help optimize the transportation process, reduce costs and time, and enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products in the Chinese market.

Vietnam and China need to cooperate to build effective online distribution channels, bringing agricultural products closer to consumers.

From a management perspective, to promote the connection of import and export trade of agricultural, forestry and fishery products between Vietnam and China, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam requested localities, units under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Provincial Business Associations to continue negotiating, opening up and handling technical difficulties of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, maintaining the development of the agricultural, forestry and fishery market between the two countries to ensure quality and sustainability.

At the same time, focus on reorganizing the production chain according to specific industries associated with specialized areas linked with export processing enterprises to build standard raw material areas; strengthen coordination to ensure the issuance of codes for growing and farming areas for export; make information transparent with growing areas, farming areas, and packaging facilities according to seasons and seasons; standardize product quality and production processes.

“In 2025 and the coming years, continue to pay attention to developing the agricultural, forestry and fishery markets of the two countries, especially continuing to negotiate the opening of the market for livestock and poultry products, which is an advantage of the provinces bordering the two countries in a sustainable and quality direction.

In addition to maintaining trade and connecting to promote exports to southern market areas through the land border, it is necessary to study access to distribution channels in the markets of the northern provinces of China.

In particular, participating in cross-border e-commerce channels is considered a potential direction for domestic enterprises to directly approach Chinese consumers," Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam emphasized.