HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese and Chinese enterprises on Wednesday signed agreements in principle on watermelon trade in 2018 and the following years, at a conference in the central province of Quảng Ngãi.

The event was organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in conjunction with the People’s Committee of Quảng Ngãi Province and China’s Guangxi province.

During the conference, representatives from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region briefed participants on demand and regulations related to fruit export to China.

China is the second largest watermelon producer in the world, with output rising sharply each year. Specifically, the output of China’s watermelon increased from 72 million tonnes in 2013 to 77.5 million tonnes by 2016.

However, China’s demand for watermelon imported from abroad is not small. Last year, China imported 200,000 tonnes of watermelon from countries outside and Việt Nam was the main supplier.

On Việt Nam’s side, the demand for watermelon exports is very large, due to oversupply and limited domestic consumption, leading to the devaluation of this fruit occurring frequently.

The objective reason for this situation is due to domestic enterprises not updating changes in tastes and needs of Chinese consumers in time, strict requirements in the process of testing and quality quarantine from neighboring countries. This issue has put farmers in a difficult situation, with a high level of risk.

Trần Ngọc Thương, deputy director of Quảng Ngãi Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, stressed on the involvement of various parties in solving difficulties for farm produce, including watermelon, as well as orientations for farmers in production, helping improve the quality of agricultural products and increase the added value of products.

He also proposed to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Chinese firms to increase support for market surveys and study on fruits and vegetables for export to countries signing trade contracts, as well as in creating favourable conditions to connect with Chinese trade promotion organisations that have watermelon production areas in the direction of connecting supply and demand. — VNS