Việt Nam – China economic, trade cooperation becomes close, complementary: expert

Việt Nam – China economic, trade cooperation becomes close, complementary: expert

In 2024, Việt Nam-China trade exceeded 260 billion USD – a level rarely seen in China’s trade relations with foreign partners.

Various Vietnamese fruits, including durian and passion fruit, are on sale at China's Youyi Guan border gate. — VNA/VNS Photo

In recent years, economic and trade ties between Việt Nam and China have been continuously strengthened and upgraded, becoming one of the key pillars of China–ASEAN cooperation, according to a Chinese expert.

In an interview with a Vietnam News Agency correspondent in China, Zhang Jianping, vice chairman of the academic committee of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, said General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping has repeatedly underlined the goal of building a China–Việt Nam community with a shared future, describing it as a crucial orientation for bilateral relations in the new era. Alongside this, economic and trade relations between the two countries have expanded rapidly and grown increasingly close.

According to 2024 data from the General Administration of Customs of China published on Comnews.cn, bilateral trade exceeded US$260 billion – a level rarely seen in China’s trade relations with foreign partners. Notably, Việt Nam, with a population of around 100 million, now records a trade volume with China that is double that of India, despite India’s population of more than 1.4 billion.

Zhang noted that within the framework of China–ASEAN cooperation, particularly the version 3.0 China–ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, the two countries have established systematic cooperation mechanisms, strongly promoting international production capacity cooperation and two-way investment.

Various Vietnamese fruits, including durian and passion fruit, are on sale at China's Youyi Guan border gate. — VNA/VNS Photo

As Việt Nam leverages its demographic advantages and accelerates an export-, trade- and investment-led growth model, bilateral trade and investment have reached high levels. 

In 2024, China–ASEAN trade surpassed $980 billion and is expected to exceed $1 trillion in 2025, with Việt Nam accounting for around 25 per cent of the total value. This, Zhang said, underscores Việt Nam’s role as a pillar of China–ASEAN cooperation.

He added that differences in per capita GDP between the two countries reflect their different stages of development but also create strong complementarities in economic cooperation.

Looking ahead, he expressed hope that both sides would continue to deepen cooperation in infrastructure, connectivity, production capacity, trade and investment. Chinese enterprises, he said, are expected to increase investment and build factories and industrial parks in Việt Nam, helping to elevate bilateral economic and trade ties and promote the sustainable development of China–ASEAN cooperation. 

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