Vietnam, China see surge in border trade, with more to come

Dong Dang border gate in Lang Son province (Source: vneconomy.vn)

Trade activities between Vietnam and China have been busy since the beginning of 2024, with a series of border gates reopened and upgraded.

According to the management board of the Dong Dang-Lang Son economic zone, the first week of the year saw the number of trucks transporting goods through six land border gates in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son increased by nearly 300 compared to the previous month. On a daily average, there were about 400 trucks carrying exports and about 800 trucks carrying imports.

Lang Son shares a 231.7km borderline with China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

A representative of the board stated that the demand of the Chinese market for Vietnamese agricultural products and fresh fruits during the Lunar New Year period is usually very high. Meanwhile, Vietnamese enterprises also need to import more consumer goods and machinery components for the domestic market, hence the significant increase in cross-border trade between the countries.

Trade activities, especially on farm produce, are also in full swing at the Lao Cai border gate in the northern province of the same name, which borders China’s Yunnan province. In the first three days of 2024, the total import-export turnover through this crossing neared 5.4 million USD, with export value exceeding 2.8 million USD. Vietnam's main exports include durian, bananas, sweet potatoes, dragon fruit, dried cassava and charcoal.

Vuong Trinh Quoc, the head of the management board of Lao Cai economic zone, forecast that trade with China will flourish even more this year. After the state-level visit to Vietnam by Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping, the country has announced that it will open its market to many potential Vietnamese agricultural products, including fresh coconuts, frozen fruit, citrus fruit, avocados, bananas, custard apples, and water apples./.