Imports from China coming through the two main border gates in Lang Son province, Tan Thanh and Huu Nghi, have not increased as sharply as previously predicted.
Bui Tien Sinh, Deputy Head of the Tam Thanh Trade Centre’s Management Board at Tan Thanh border gate’s economic zone, said that imports from China through the border gate have not seen any unusual changes in recent days. He said the main import items remain fruit and farm produce.
According to Sinh, there are some 250-300 container trucks passing through Tan Thanh border gate per day. These carry goods from Vietnam to China, and then bring commodities from China to Vietnam when they return.
“Imports increased sharply only on the days just before Tet, when container trucks obstructed all roads at Tan Thanh border gate,” Sinh said on February 3.
Tan Thanh is now considered the main farm produce trade border gate between Vietnam and China. However, this just mainly serves imports and exports of small scale. Meanwhile, Huu Nghi border gate, which is not far from Tan Thanh, 40 km by road, is the place for trading electronics, equipment and machines. The border gate mainly serves imports and exports under official channels of big scale.
Bui Duy Chien, Tien phong newspaper’s resident reporter in Lang Son province, said that China-made products have been flocking to Viet Nam for a long time, while no sudden increase in imports has been noted recently.
Deputy Head of Lang Son Customs Agency Vi Cong Tuong added that China-made products have always been cheap. However, Tuong does not think that the cheap products threaten Vietnam-made products. He says that cheap but low-quality products are not the choice of many Vietnamese customers.
In 2008, Vietnam-China two-way trade reached $1.6bil, an increase of 45% over 2007. (TBKTSG)
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