Ngo Tuong Vy, CEO of Chanh Thu, one of Vietnam’s largest fruit exporters, says her company has received large orders from China recently for high-quality durian.

In the first half of this year, China bought more than $1.2 billion worth of Vietnamese durians, a 46% increase from the same period in 2023.

Vietnam has only been shipping fresh durians to China since 2022 when they got the green light for official import.

But on Monday the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and China’s General Administration of Customs signed several protocols allowing shipments of frozen durian and fresh coconut.

With the new protocols signed, frozen durian exports are expected to reach $400-500 million this year, while fresh coconut exports are set to increase by $200-300 million.

Some other agricultural exports to China include swallow nest, sweet potato, dragon fruit, longan, rambutan, mango, jackfruit, watermelon, banana, mangosteen, grass jelly, lychee, and passion fruit.

Vietnam sold nearly $2.2 billion worth of vegetables and fruits to the country in the first half, up 33% year-on-year, making it China’s second largest source of agricultural products after Thailand.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, says China, which has a population of 1.4 billion, is a highly lucrative market that even distant countries like the U.S. and Chile seek access to.

Vietnam’s top trading partner

A decade ago China’s imports of Vietnamese goods were around $15 billion annually, a figure that quadrupled to $61.2 billion in 2023.

Coffee giant Trung Nguyen Legend, which has been exporting the bean to that country for over 15 years, is a prime beneficiary of this growth.

It said it now has 15 importers, 300 secondary distributors, 30,000 retail locations and thousands of online stores in China, the fastest-growing coffee market in the world.

It estimates that out of every 18 cups of coffee sold in China one is Trung Nguyen Legend’s.

It has also opened 14 "Coffee World" stores, its global coffee shop chain, in China in less than two years since its launch.

As the world's second largest economy, China's consumption and production have facilitated growth in bilateral trade with Vietnam, especially after the two countries established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2008.

Trade between the two neighbors surged from $20.8 billion that year to nearly $172 billion in 2023.

The figure is estimated to have surpassed $112 billion so far this year, with Vietnam’s exports accounting for $32.56 billion and imports for $79.61 billion.

Key exports include electronics, rubber, fruits and vegetables, agricultural and aquatic products, and footwear.

Machinery, equipment, chemicals, plastics, feedstock for textile and footwear, steel, and construction materials are the main imports.

China is the biggest source of Vietnam's imports and the second largest export market after the U.S.

Vietnam is China's top trading partner in ASEAN and fifth largest market and ninth largest source of imports globally.

Vietnam's trade with China

According to HSBC statistics, Vietnam-China trade is among the 20 largest in the world.

Ahmed Yeganeh, head of wholesale banking at HSBC Vietnam, tells VnExpress: "Geopolitical factors and regional free trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will continue to support and strengthen the economic relationship between China and Vietnam."

Source: VnExpress