Vietnam’s trade gap with China widens: ministry
Vietnam’s trade gap with China widens: ministry
Vietnam ran a trade deficit of nearly US$28 billion with China between January and September this year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Data showed that the country posted an estimated US$382.7 billion in imports and exports in the nine-month period. Of the sum, imports and exports rose by 8.2% and 8.9% from a year earlier to US$194.3 billion and US$188.4 billion, respectively.
Vietnam’s key export markets included Russia (up 13.7%), Japan (10%), South Korea (8.1%) and Southeast Asia (4.7%).
As of late September, the bilateral trade between Vietnam and China had reached some US$83.2 billion. However, their trade gap had widened significantly.
During the period, Vietnamese goods shipments to China dropped by 3.8% against the previous year to some US$27.7 billion, but Vietnam spent roughly US$55.5 billion on Chinese imports, a year-on-year rise of 17.3%.
As such, Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of some US$27.8 billion with its northern neighbor in the first nine months of 2019, compared to US$25 billion recorded in January-August.
Vietnam imported large shipments of machinery, equipment, tools, computers, electronics and phones and their parts from China. Meanwhile, the country exported computers, electronics, phones and farm produce to the neighboring country.
