There is ample room for Vietnam and China’s localities, particularly Guangxi province, to boost trade collaboration, said Deputy Director of the city’s Investment & Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) Nguyen Tuan.

Speaking at a conference on import-export cooperation between Vietnam and Guangxi province held on April 12 in Ho Chi Minh City, he said the relationship between Guangxi and Vietnam has developed to a new height.

The two sides have agreed to implement cooperation in electricity trade and seaport, and improve customs clearance efficiency by piloting the “smart gate” model, contributing to deepening the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

By March 2023, China registered 23.8 billion USD in total FDI in Vietnam, ranking 6th out of 143 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian nation. In HCM City alone, China has 473 valid investment projects with a total capital of over 267 million USD, ranking 18th among the city’s 119 investors.

He also affirmed that the city’s administration is always committed to accompanying businesses throughout their investment and business process.

Wu Juan, vice head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Guangxi Committee, said that among ASEAN countries, Vietnam is China’s largest trading partner with a bilateral trade turnover of 234.9 billion USD last year. For many consecutive years, China has been Vietnam’s largest import market and second biggest export market in the Asian region.

In particular, Vietnam has maintained its position as Guangxi’s largest trading partner for 24 years in a row. In 2022, total trade between Vietnam and the Chinese province hit 29.3 billion USD, accounting for 70% of the figure between Guangxi and ASEAN.

She said the trade promotion conference helped build a connection platform and promote trade cooperation in areas such as construction materials, interior decoration, import and export supply chain, as well as partnerships between fruit traders of Guangxi and Vietnam.

At the event, the two sides inked cooperation agreements on cold chain logistics to jointly promote the upgrading of cross-border cold chain system, thus facilitating the signing of fruit and vegetable purchase agreements between Guangxi and Vietnamese enterprises.

VNA