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Many Chinese traders have enhanced co-operation with Vietnamese partners to boost their buying of agricultural products.

Chinese traders buying dragon fruits in Binh Thuan Province

Mrs Thu, an owner of a private enterprise specialising in fruit exports in Ben Tre Province, is rarely present at her workshop, spending most of her time travelling the country to buy fruits. After that the fruits will be taken to her workshop for delivery to Chinese dealers at Tan Thanh Border Gate in Lang Son Province.

According to Thu, her Chinese partners have huge demand. After several years, she has established long-term business relationships with Chinese traders.

Thu is not unique in the Mekong Delta region. Co-operating with Vietnamese dealers and private firms are one of ways that many Chinese traders are now utilising to buy more products from Vietnam.

In recent months, large amounts of Vietnamese products have been unofficially exported to China, said Nguyen Van Hoi, Deputy Director of the Department for Mountainous Region Trading under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

“Entire shipments of Vietnamese agricultural products have been transported to border gates and bought by Chinese traders at high prices,” he added.

According to Hoi, one new way of trading between Vietnamese and Chinese traders is through co-operation in buying agricultural products.

Chinese traders often advance money to their Vietnamese partners to purchase certain types of products. At harvest time, the Vietnamese side only packs and transports the goods to border gates for delivery. Vietnamese farmers are also part of this network. They are hired for semi-processing and harvesting and also offered high prices for their products, he explained.

So far this year, Chinese traders have increased their purchases of local agricultural products and food such as rubber, pepper, cashew nuts, pork, sugar and wood. Many of them have had their Vietnamese dealers to collect the products.

Mr. Hoi noted that Chinese traders usually make payment in cash, which is attractive to both Vietnamese farmers and dealers. In contrast Vietnamese exporters often pay in arrears because they have to wait payment from their foreign partners.

Earlier, Dat Viet newspaper cited Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, Deputy Chairperson of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers (VASEP) as saying that many Vietnamese seafood exporters are facing bankruptcy due to the serious shortage of fresh seafood as Chinese wholesalers are buying huge amounts of seafood caught by Vietnamese fishermen, either at ports or even at sea, before the catch could make its way to Vietnamese companies.

Experts warned that if Vietnamese exporters do not have any measure to deal with this situation, they will face a severe shortage of materials.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam’s exports to China increased 40% compared to the same period of last year in the first six months of this year.