China, Vietnam boost collaboration in trade facilitation

The MoUs were signed for the primary cause of carrying out the outcomes of phone talks between Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao. This comes ahead of the 13th meeting of the Vietnam-China Steering Committee on Bilateral Cooperation.
 
Through the terms of the MoUs, both sides reached a consensus on promoting bilateral trade in a stable, balanced, and sustainable manner, with the formation of the working group aiming to deal with arising issues and barriers faced in bilateral trade.

They therefore consented to offer the best possible conditions for the customs clearance of goods through the border between both sides, whilst also supporting firms businesses of the two countries to strengthen their resilience and recovery operations during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two sides will therefore optimise the railway route between the respective nations to promote bilateral trade, especially the transportation of farm produce through the border.
 
The MoUs serve as important foundation for the effective implementation of bilateral co-operation programmes as they help to remove obstacles faced in trade between the two nations.

According to the MoIT, trade between Vietnam and China throughout the 2010 to 2019 period grew on average by 17.6% annually, higher than the growth seen in Vietnamese trade with the rest of the world during the period.

Since COVID-19 broke out in early 2020, the MoIT has worked closely alongside China’s Ministry of Commerce and competent agencies as a means of dealing with difficulties and maintain growth in two-way trade. This has been done while simultaneously creating favourable conditions for customs clearance of goods between the two countries.

Previously, Vietnamese Minister Dien held phone talks with Chinese Minister Wentao in April and June, while also regularly exchanging official documents as part of efforts to settle arising problems faced in bilateral trade activities. In addition, both sides have been striving to maintain dialogue through the working group on bilateral economic and trade co-operation, with the ninth meeting of the group held virtually.

These efforts have greatly contributed to maintaining trade exchanges between the two sides and operations of supply chains, therefore serving production and exports, and keeping the mutual trade growth at two digits.