Carefully prepare the agro-product export scenario to China from 2022

Regularly update information

On the afternoon of August 11th, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, Head of the MARD Northern Working Group, had an online work session with leaders of four border provinces of Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Lao Cai and Cao Bang, along with the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam.

At the meeting, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien happily shared that the total import and export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products is estimated at over USD 53.2 billion in the first seven months of 2021, of which exports are estimated at USD 28.6 billion, up 26.7% over the same period last year. The trade surplus of the agricultural sector is about USD 3.9 billion.

Regarding the Chinese market alone, the total import and export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in the first six months of 2021 is USD 8.67 billion, up 38.8% over the same period last year, exports, in particular, reached more than USD 6.17 billion, up 35.8%.

“In the context of complicated developments of Covid-19, the trade growth rate between Vietnam and China has remained at a good level. It is the result of the attention of the two countries’ political systems, ministries, departments, branches and localities. I believe that trades between the two countries still hold very great potential in terms of types, output and sales", said Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien.

According to the announcement from Mr. Ho Toa Cam, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, from January 1st, 2022, China will apply a number of new policies for agricultural, forestry and fishery products exported from Vietnam. Therefore, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien requested the MARD units to continuously update information from China to continue the growth momentum.

“Based on the friendly relation tradition between the two countries, I hope that ministries, departments, branches, the People's Committees of provinces, and the Chinese embassy will focus on removing barriers. We need to prepare very carefully from the planting and farming area code, animal and plant quarantine, farming process, to wrapping, packaging and transportation. In order to do this, we have no choice but to keep in touch and keep ourselves well-informed", said Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien.

Upgrade infrastructure

In the context that road and waterway traffic is tightened for Covid-19 epidemic control, Mr. To Ngoc Son, Deputy Director of the Asia-Africa Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), shared the idea of utilizing railway traffic. "One train can carry tens of containers, which means we can reduce that much number of vehicles on the road", said Mr. Son.

As stated by Mr. Son, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is currently developing a quarantine protocol on railways, based on the road and waterway quarantine. If the problems of rail gauge or refrigerated containers can be overcome, this will be a potential trading method between Vietnam and China.

Regarding the four border provinces, where there are main customs clearance gates to China, the circulation of goods still faces some difficulties. Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Lang Son province, Luong Trong Quynh, said that vehicles stayed at the border gates in the province for up to a week, affecting the quality of agricultural products. Moreover, the number of produced fishery products going through Lang Son is still small, not commensurate with the potential of this industry group. Some varieties such as passion fruit are not yet on the official export list.

Vice Chairman of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee, Bui Van Khang added that the amount of goods stored at the province's border gates has amounted to 4,000-5,000 tons, while the number of cold storage is insufficient. Additionally, China’s strict regulations on cross-border business make Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products circulate across the border slowly.

To solve the problem, Mr. Khang suggested the MARD have policies to promote enterprises to export under commercial contracts to reduce dependence on cross-border business. Another point is that Quang Ninh feels the need to open more warehouses and build a trading center for agricultural products, which helps to store long-term fresh goods such as fruits. "We are studying to upgrade the border gate, build more ports and highways", said Mr. Khang.

Mr. Ho Toa Cam, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam appreciated the valuable initiatives from Vietnam in the meeting on August 11th. He promised to report specifically to Ambassador Hung Ba, and pledged to "join hands with the MARD and the MoIT to facilitate the customs clearance process". In the immediate future, Mr. Ho Toa Cam proposed to set up online conferences, helping the two countries directly solve difficulties, before answering in documents.