Vietnam trade gap with China hits historic high
(VOV) - Vietnamese bought record amounts of goods from China in 2015, pushing the trade gap to a historic high, according to the latest statistics from the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Preliminary estimates of imports for the year from the Asian giant hit US$49.3 billion while exports tallied in at US$17 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US$32.3 billion, up 12.5% from last year.
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Much of the increase in imports from China was fuelled by a surge in buying of cell phones, computers, machinery and equipment while exports failed to pick up significant steam as the norther neighbour’s economy showed signs of slowing.
Other GSO statistics show the trade deficit with the Republic of Korea rose 28% to US$18.7 billion while that with ASEAN shot up 45% to US$5.5 billion and Japan registered a US$300 million shortfall.