As many as 200 Vietnamese and Chinese businesspeople met for one day on September 22 in Nanning, the capital of China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to seek ways to expand the two countries’ trade.

The event, known as the Vietnam-China (Guangxi) business cooperation forum, formed part of the ninth ASEAN-China Expo (CAEXPO) and China-ASEAN Business-Investment Summit (CABIS). It was organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)

Participating businesses are operating in the fields of construction, machinery, equipment, materials and farm product processing.

Pham Quang Thinh, deputy head of VCCI’s International Relations Department, said that two-way trade between Vietnam and China enjoyed an annual growth of 32 percent in 2000-2010. It grew 30.7 percent to 35.7 billion USD in 2011.

By August, China had 866 operating projects in Vietnam with a registered investment capital of 4.52 billion USD, ranking 14th among 96 countries and territories investing in the country. Guangxi province alone has invested in 133 projects with over 273 million USD.

According to Ding Yuan Long, Deputy Director of the Trade Department of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Vietnam ’s regular sending of businesses to the annual CAEXPO in Guangxi reflects the importance and effectiveness of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

In 2011, two-way trade between Guangxi and Vietnam’s border provinces exceeded 7.5 billion USD, a year-on-year surge of 47.7 percent, he said, adding that at present, Vietnamese localities are the largest trade partners of Guangxi province in all aspects.

Vietnam businesses have so far invested in 23 projects capitalised over 90 million USD in Guangxi.-VNA