Lang Son (VNA) – Officials of Vietnam and China as well as Vietnamese localities on February 14 gathered at a conference in the northern border province of Lang Son to seekmeasures to facilitate agro-aquatic product trade between the two countries.

Vietnamese Minister of Agricultureand Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that as part of efforts torealise the Vietnam-China joint statement on continuing to promote anddeepen the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, thetwo sides have agreed to further step up the trade of high quality agriculturaland food products.

Highlighting that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developmenthas worked closely with the Chinese side to ensure smooth the trade of agro-aquatic products between the two countries, Hoan hoped that authorised agenciesof Guangxi (China) and border localities of Vietnam will continue theircoordination to further promote the bilateral trade of farm produce and food.

He called forenterprises and trade associations to give their advice and proposals to helpthe ministry design plans and programmes to facilitate border trade with Chinain the time to come.

The minister notedthat Vietnam has for many years been the largest trade partner of China amongASEAN countries and the sixth biggest in the world. Meanwhile, China is the largesttrade partner and the biggest export market of Vietnam.

In 2022, import-exportrevenue of agro-forestry-aquatic products between the two countries reached14.2 billion USD, up 12.7% year on year, including 10.4 billion USD worth of Vietnamese exports.

According to To NgocSon, Vice Director of the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade, said that last year, trade between Guangxi and Vietnam hit29.2 billion USD, accounting for 95% of total border trade between the twocountries.

He suggested thatlocalities step up cooperation with the Chinese locality in operating bordergates, while increase the provision of information about customs clearance and seekingmeasures to strengthen mutual support and paying greater attention to thedomestic market.

In order to removeobstacles, Lu Xian, a representative from the General Administration of Customsof China, said that the administration will continue to coordinate closely withtheir Vietnamese partners to review the dossiers of goods to be exported to theChinese market, with a focus on examining the processing, cleansing proceduresand certificates of origin.

He advised Vietnamesefirms to clearly understand the process and regulations as well as food examiningand monitoring methods to ensure fast and smooth customs clearance activities.

Meanwhile, Wang Jianbo, Chairman of the Guangxi Business Association, recommended Vietnam to boost e-commerceactivities for trading of farm produce with China./.