VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese businesses face high risks when exporting farm produce to China across border gates via unofficial means. 

Vietnam is a big farm produce exporter

They still have not found a way to boost exports through official channels.

“We don’t want to export fruits to China through unofficial channels. It is risky. We want to sell high-quality products through official channels under business contracts, rather than sell across border lines to merchants,” said Do Ngoc Chat from Viet A Agrifood.

Chat is one of hundreds of businessmen who want to export farm produce to China through official ways, which can bring high value, allow safe payments and minimize risks. 

However, only six kinds of Vietnam’s fruits can enter the Chinese market through official channels, namely dragon fruit, water melon, litchi, longan, banana, mango and jackfruit.

Chinese has not opened its market officially to other Vietnam specialties, including avocado, durian, coconut and sweet potato.

Thailand has 40 items that can enter the Chinese market through official ways, and Cambodia has six.

A high proportion of Vietnam’s goods are sold to China across border gates. Products are carried to border areas and delivered to Chinese merchants after receiving cash directly from buyers. No business contract is signed between sellers and buyers. 

In many cases, Vietnamese exporters suffer big losses if products don’t sell. High risks are hung over exporters as China regularly changes cross-border trade policy and changes the border gates that imports can go through.

Nguyen Van Nam, former director of the Trade Research Institute, commented that China is a difficult market. The Ministries of Industry and Trade (MOIT) and Agriculture & Rural Development (MARD) have no other choice than to conduct negotiations with China to pave the way for Vietnam’s fruits to enter the market.

This not only depends on the quality of products, but also on the relation between the two countries.

Some years ago, China opened its border gates to Vietnam’s farm produce because it knew Vietnam’s farming technology was low. For a long time, Vietnamese has been following only one way of doing trade. 

Businesses cannot plan long-term business strategies because the market is unstable. Thus, Vietnamese businesses need to find a way to increase exports through official channels.

Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports are expected to top $4.5 billion by 2020, with fruits accounting for $3.6 billion, according to MARD.

China is Vietnam’s biggest importer, followed by the US, South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

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