Economic and Trade Cooperation Mechanism Continues to Play a Role

The 13th meeting of the Vietnam-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee will be held in Beijing from September 28 to October 2. This meeting will be co-chaired by Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao. The convening of this meeting comes at a time when economic and trade relations between the two countries maintain a positive growth momentum and continue to break records.

In recent years, the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China has been continuously consolidated and strengthened. Among them, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has signed multiple cooperation mechanisms with various Chinese localities, providing effective and practical support for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Continued Expansion of Bilateral Trade Scale

Since 2004, China has consistently been Vietnam’s largest trading partner. Over the past decade, bilateral trade has maintained double-digit growth. Currently, China is Vietnam’s second-largest export market and largest import market. Meanwhile, Vietnam is China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and the sixth-largest trading partner globally.

Data for the first seven months of this year shows that Vietnam imported goods worth $79.2 billion from China and exported $33.4 billion to China, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%. This data indicates that despite global economic uncertainties, Vietnam-China trade maintains a stable growth momentum.

Thriving Border Trade

Border trade between Vietnam and China is developing rapidly. In 2023, the border trade between Vietnamese localities and China’s Guangxi reached $41.4 billion, accounting for 24.1% of the total trade between the two countries and 97.2% of the total trade at Vietnam-China land border ports. Notably, Vietnam has been China’s largest trading partner in Guangxi for 24 consecutive years, with trade at land border ports between the two countries accounting for over 95% of the total import and export at bilateral land border ports.

Cooperation with Yunnan Province is also deepening. In 2023, bilateral trade between Vietnam and Yunnan Province reached $2.65 billion. Although this represents a year-on-year decrease of 18.51%, Yunnan’s imports from Vietnam increased by 62.33% year-on-year, reaching $973.5 million. The Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation signed between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and Yunnan Province has laid an important foundation for further developing trade potential between the two sides.

Expanding Cooperation with Other Provinces

In addition to Guangxi and Yunnan, Vietnam also values economic and trade cooperation with other Chinese provinces. In 2023, the trade volume between Shandong Province and Vietnam reached $10.9 billion, ranking eighth among Chinese localities with trade relations with Vietnam, accounting for 4.8% of the total bilateral trade between Vietnam and China.

Furthermore, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade recognizes the important role of Hainan Province in trade relations between Vietnam and China, as well as between ASEAN and China, and is actively promoting cooperation with Hainan Province.

Challenges and Future Prospects

With the thriving border trade between Vietnam and China, and the rise of the digital economy and e-commerce, both countries also face some challenges, such as commercial fraud, intellectual property infringement, food safety, and consumer rights protection. Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien emphasized that against the backdrop of rapidly changing regional and global situations, maintaining stable, healthy, and increasingly deepening Vietnam-China relations is an objective requirement, significant for the long-term development of both countries and regional peace, stability, and development.

To ensure the comprehensive and effective implementation of cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding reached between Vietnam and various Chinese localities in the future, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has held multiple talks and working sessions with representatives of Chinese local leaders, frankly exchanging views and contributing to enriching the content of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

Summary of Key Points:

1. The Vietnam-China economic and trade cooperation mechanism continues to play a role, with bilateral trade scale constantly expanding. China has maintained its position as Vietnam’s largest trading partner for many consecutive years.
2. Border trade is developing rapidly, especially trade exchanges with Guangxi and Yunnan provinces, which occupy an important position and inject new momentum into economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
3. Vietnam is actively expanding economic and trade cooperation with other Chinese provinces, such as Shandong and Hainan, to further tap the potential of bilateral trade.
4. The development of the digital economy and e-commerce brings new opportunities for trade between the two countries, while also presenting some challenges that need to be addressed jointly by both sides.
5. In the complex and changing international situation, maintaining stable and healthy development of Vietnam-China relations is significant for the long-term development of both countries and regional peace and stability. Both sides will continue to promote practical cooperation and promote bilateral trade towards a more balanced direction.

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