Up to 52 batches of seafood exported to China by 36 Vietnamese enterprises were found carrying the SARS-CoV-2 virus and returned, according to the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad).

A radical solution to prevent farm produce truck congestion at border gates requires understanding the Chinese market well and creating a specific project on boosting exports to China.

In some European countries, dragonfruit is considered ‘super food’, priced at VND650,000 per kilogram. Vietnam has 1.4 million tons of the fruit each year and farmers sell it at only VND3,000 per kilogram.

Over the past few years, the export of farm produce to China has constantly been running into trouble, especially with the congestion of trucks at the northern border gates in December 2021.

The General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) on February 11 morning issued 1,601 codes for Vietnamese agricultural and food products serving their exports to the Chinese market.

The export value of vegetables and fruits reached at US$3.2 billion in 2020 and fruits account for 80 percent of export turnover.

Cambodia has obtained the go-ahead to export mangoes to China, becoming a new rival for Vietnam in the 1.4 billion consumer market.

Vietnam has joined many multilateral and bilateral trade agreements in recent years. The question is what the country receives from these trade relations.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong has offered a variety of high-quality farm produce to China. He hopes Vietnam can boost exports through official ways to China in the time to come.

Northern farmers have been advised to increase the winter crop growing area and increase exports to China, in anticipation of a farm produce shortage there caused by severe floods.

The loyal Chinese market has restricted the import of Vietnam’s fruits, while exports to the US are stuck because of Covid-19.