Vietnam durian and fruit festival opens in Tianjin
VOV.VN - The Chinese city of Tianjin hosted the Vietnam durian and fruit festival on January 13 in an effort to further enhance bilateral trade cooperation between the two countries.
Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai emphasised that despite unpredictable global political and economic developments, as well as the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, import and export activities between the two countries continue to reap positive outcomes, especially fruit exports.
He cited statistics released by Chinese customs saying the two-way trade turnover during the initial 11 months of last year surged by 2.6% to US$213.9 billion, with Vietnam maintaining its place as China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and China’s sixth largest trading partner.
It’s noteworthy that Vietnam’s fruit export turnover to China inched up 44.4% to US$1.39 billion year on year.
Last year saw both countries sign a protocol on phytosanitary requirements relating to four Vietnamese agricultural products licensed to enter the Chinese market, namely fresh bananas, durians, salangane nests, and sweet potatoes.
The move therefore brings the total number of Vietnamese products imported through official channels into the Chinese market up to 13.
The Vietnamese diplomat emphasised that there remains plenty of room for future cooperation between the two sides, especially as Tianjin serves as the gateway of Northeast China with advantages in terms of large seaports and a convenient transportation system.
He expressed his hope that the festival would help Vietnamese agricultural products make further inroads into China’s northeastern market, contributing to improving product quality and further accelerating agricultural trade linkages between the two sides
Vice Mayor of Tianjin Wang Xu said that Vietnamese fruit has become increasingly popular with Chinese people recently, noting that Chinese fruit imports from ASEAN account for 76% of the entire city’s total fruit import value.
He pledged that the authorities of Tianjin would create the optimal conditions for foreign businesses, including Vietnamese firms, to expand their market shares in the Chinese market moving forward.
A total of nine Vietnamese fruits were introduced at the event, namely durian, mangosteen, mangoes, dragon fruit, longan, pineapples, watermelons, bananas, and jackfruit.
In addition, a number of cooperation agreements relating to the consumption of Vietnamese fruit in the Chinese market were also signed at the event.
