Vietnam and China promote exports of agricultural products through new Protocols

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung expressed his gratitude to the working delegation of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) for taking the time to discuss with agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The Deputy Minister said: "In recent years, the cooperative relationship between MARD and GACC has been continuously strengthened and brought into reality. In particular, during the complicated period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides have closely coordinated and handled flexibly to ensure that trade in agricultural, forestry, and fishery products between the two countries is not disrupted."

Accordingly, MARD and GACC have flexibly applied online assessment measures and signed indirect Protocols to open the market for products such as grass jelly, bird's nest, durian, dragon fruit, etc.

In 2023, the trade turnover of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products between Vietnam and China reached USD 15.53 billion. Of which, exports reached USD 12.1 billion (up 16.4% compared to 2022) and imports reached USD 3.4 billion (down 9.7% compared to 2022).

In the first five months of 2024, import-export turnover of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products between the two countries reached USD 6.2 billion (up 2.9% over the same period in 2023). Of which, Vietnam's exports to the Chinese market are estimated to reach USD 4.6 billion (up 8.6% over the same period in 2023), while imports are estimated at USD 1.6 billion (up 31.5% over the same period in 2023).

With a population of more than 1.4 billion people and a growing middle class, China is a large market for many high-quality agricultural, forestry, and fishery products. However, the market share of Vietnamese agricultural products here is still relatively small, accounting for less than 5% of China's total import value for this product group. This is also an opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to increase their market share of high-quality agricultural, forestry, and fishery products in the Chinese market.

At the meeting, the two leaders agreed to promote cooperation in the field of trade in agricultural products and market opening in the coming time.

Accordingly, the two sides will soon complete procedures to sign Protocols on Plant Quarantine Requirements for Vietnam's Fresh Coconut and Frozen Durian Exported to China. For passion fruit and chili commodities that have been piloted for export by both sides, MARD and GACC will promote the completion of procedures to soon be able to sign these two documents.

The two countries will coordinate to complete Protocols on Exporting Crocodiles, Raw Bird's Nests, Poultry, and Exploited Seafood from Vietnam to China.

According to Deputy Director General Trieu Tang Lien, the Chinese side will assign technical agencies to review and soon process Vietnamese businesses’s registration dossiers for exporting agricultural and fishery products to China to create favorable conditions for trade cooperation in agricultural, forestry, and fishery products.

Along with that, the two sides have reached a high consensus on a plan to remove difficulties and obstacles for Chinese sturgeon exported to Vietnam. Accordingly, the Chinese side will support the Vietnamese side to strengthen the capacity to assess sturgeon species.

At the meeting, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung and Deputy Director General of GACC Trieu Tang Lien signed the Protocol on quarantine requirements for monkeys exported from Vietnam to China.

The two leaders also witnessed the initial signing to conclude the negotiation of the Protocol on Plant Quarantine Requirements for Fresh Coconut Exports from Vietnam to China.

Over the past 2 years, in an effort to promote the market opening for fresh coconuts, the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) has discussed in depth with Chinese specialized agencies technical issues related to pest management, fruit quality and safety management measures, as well as product packaging.

According to Director of the Plant Protection Department Huynh Tan Dat, up to now, the two sides have reached a technical agreement and signed the Protocol.

"Promoting the signing of the Protocol on Fresh Coconuts is one of the innovations China facilitates for Vietnam. This proves that the two sides reached a consensus. On that basis, in the process of implementing trade and export techniques, we will continue to improve legal issues to sign at the commercial decree level in the coming time," the Director said.

Currently, many of Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry, and fishery products are exported to China. This includes 12 fruit and vegetable items (watermelon, mangosteen, grass jelly, durian, fresh banana, sweet potato, dragon fruit, rambutan, mango, lychee, longan, and jackfruit); bird's nests, fish meal, and a number of products serving the production and processing of animal feed; and dairy and seafood products of all kinds.