Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên had talks with Secretary of the Yunnan Party Committee Wang Ning in Hà Nội on Tuesday. — Photo from the Ministry of Industry and Trade

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên discussed measures to promote economic and trade ties between Việt Nam and China’s Yunnan Province, while meeting with Secretary of the Yunnan Party Committee Wang Ning in Hà Nội on Tuesday.

Diên said Yunnan province holds an important role in economic and trade ties as it has a large market and diverse goods demand while serving as a crucial gateway for Vietnamese products to enter the southwest of China.

However, trade between Việt Nam and Yunnan remains modest, accounting for less than 5 per cent of the Việt Nam-China trade, which hasn’t fully reflected the cooperation potential and demand of both sides or met expectations of leaders of the two countries, he went on.

Proposing measures for fostering economic and trade links, the host official suggested Yunnan facilitate customs clearance at its border gates with Việt Nam and the export of Việt Nam's fishery products to China. He also suggested to connect businesses and help them participate in fairs and exhibitions, properly carry out the memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Yunnan administration, and sign an action plan on the MoU implementation for 2023-26 early.

The minister asked the Chinese province to quickly and completely resume activities of border gates and crossings with Việt Nam, and create conditions for Vietnamese truck drivers when handling customs clearance procedures. He also asked to consider measures for cutting down logistics costs, and upgrade infrastructure serving the import of fishery products from Việt Nam so as to help meet Chinese consumers’ demand and turn these products into a new growth engine of bilateral trade.

For his part, Secretary Wang noted he has assigned agencies, sectors, and border localities of his province to consider reopening more border gates and crossings, extend operation times, upgrade customs clearance infrastructure at border gates, and consider permitting Vietnamese drivers to stay in Yunnan overnight pending customs clearance.

He said Vietnamese fishery products are attractive to consumers in not only Yunnan but also other southwestern localities of China, adding that Yunnan is a large province so logistics costs are also high accordingly, but it will devise solutions to this issue.

Wang also called for stronger tourism and investment partnerships as both sides hold cooperation potential in these fields.

At the meeting, the two sides also looked into concrete measures for implementing the common perceptions between Vietnamese and Chinese leaders and for creating breakthroughs in economic and trade connections.

The Industry and Trade Department of Việt Nam's Bắc Giang Province also signed an MoU on economic and trade cooperation enhancement with the Yunnan Commerce Department. — VNS