HÀ NỘI — China is a big market for Vietnamese agricultural, forestry and fishery products, but it also poses many barriers to imported products, requiring businesses to be keenly aware of market conditions, according to insiders.

They were speaking at a recent conference on agricultural, forestry and seafood exports to China in Móng Cái City in the northern province of Quảng Ninh.

The conference was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the People's Committee of the northern province of Quảng Ninh within the framework of Việt Nam-China international trade and tourism fair 2019.

“China is a big market with a population of 1.4 billion people. Việt Nam is a neighbouring country with geographical advantages, so there are big opportunities for large import and export enterprises,” said Nguyễn Quốc Toản, director of the Agricultural Products Processing and Market Development of Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“The Chinese market always appreciates the prospect and potential of development in trade of agricultural, forestry and fishery products of Việt Nam. However, recently, the number of Vietnamese agricultural and fishery products exported to China has dropped sharply,” he added.

China has been strengthening its management system and has certain requirements in terms of standards, traceability, packaging, labels and packaging, which has affected the exports of many enterprises.

Trần Văn Công, deputy director of the Agricultural Products Processing and Market Development of Department, said Vietnamese enterprises had to change their thoughts on production organisation.

“State management agencies from the central to local levels must also provide active support for businesses so Vietnamese goods can gain certifications, helping businesses have enough preparation to meet the Chinese market’s demand,” said Công.

In recent years, bilateral trade turnover between Việt Nam and China has increased at an average rate of more than 20 per cent per year.

Two-way trade turnover reached US$108 billion last year and $94.5 billion in the first 10 months of this year.

China is consistently one of the largest importers for Vietnamese agricultural, forestry and aquatic products.

With its economic position, Quảng Ninh had been a gateway of not only Việt Nam and other ASEAN countries with the Chinese market, but also the centre of the north-south corridor in the Greater Mekong Sub-region co-operation, said Bùi Văn Khắng, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, at the conference.

The value of import and export of goods through the province in recent years has increased at a high level. Import-export turnover hit $3.2 billion in the first 10 months of this year, up 10.3 per cent over the same period last year.

To promote cross-border activities, the province has improved transport infrastructure, as well as border gate systems.

Also at the conference, there was a signing ceremony of business co-operation between six pairs of Vietnamese and Chinese enterprises with total value of more than  VNĐ15 trillion ($644 million). — VNS