Vietnam is China’s biggest trade partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the sixth largest in the world, affirmed Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien.

A workshop updating information related to regulations on agro-aquatic export to the Chinese market, and promoting connections between businesses of the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China was held in Cao Lanh city on August 29.

There remained big challenges in Vietnam's exports to China, as the market has been and will continue to impose higher requirements on both export and import standards, said Tran Quang Huy, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Asia-Africa Market Department.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) sent a diplomatic note to the General Administration of Customs of China (China Customs) on June 8, calling for the early signing of a protocol on food safety and quarantine requirements for aquatic exports and imports between the two countries.

A conference promoting trade and investment linkage between Vietnam and China’s Shandong province – a large-scale and important market of the Chinese economy – took place in Hanoi on June 1, witnessing the signing of seven business cooperation pacts.

The Vietnamese General Consulate in Guangzhou has exerted efforts to push up economic diplomacy in order to contribute to promoting the bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Guangdong province – the largest locality with the strongest economy of China.

Trade officials from Vietnam’s northern border province of Lao Cai and Honghe county of the neighbouring Chinese province of Yunnan visited the Mekong Delta province of Long An on April 23, seeking to form partnerships with local agricultural production, processing, and exporting companies.

The Vietnam-China trade exchange programme opened in Can Tho city on April 21, with 150 Mekong Delta and 13 Chinese firms taking part.

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.

A conference on promoting trade, investment and economic cooperation between Vietnam and China’s Hainan province took place in the local Haikou city on April 10, attended by the sides’ officials and approximately 120 enterprises.