Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Quang Ninh (VNA) – The northeastern province of QuangNinh earned nearly 1.18 billion USD from exports in the first half of 2022, anincrease of 0.76% against the same period last year, data showed.
Meanwhile, the province's import value was estimated to reach 1.43 billion USD in the first six months this year.
The growth was attributed to the province's efforts to maintain theopening of its border gates with China, preventing disruptions to export andimport activities amidst the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The province has established a number of “green” zonesinside the border gates where strict virus control rules are applied. In thesezones, entry to which is restricted to prevent infections, goods are deliveredthrough customs agents and handled by a designated team of drivers and porters.
Quang Ninh has provided regular updates and recommendationsfor other cities and provinces as well as traders on the status of cross-bordertrade of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products with China through itscheckpoints.
It has actively developed plans to protect the green zonesand make sure they are free from COVID-19 and comply with virus controlpolicies of both Vietnam and China.
Additionally, its leaders have discussed with their Chinesecounterparts in Dongxing on pandemic preventive measures on a regular basis tostrengthen trust between the two sides and jointly work to resume customsclearance at the border gates shut down because of COVID-19.
Authorities of Mong Cai, a city of Quang Ninh which has multipleborder checkpoints with China, require all customs officers, porters, drivers,customs agents and others who work at the checkpoints to present negative RT-PCRtest results issued within 48 hours or take self-paid rapid tests at theentrance.
They must also be vaccinated against COVID-19 with at leasttwo primary doses and stay inside the green zones in isolation with outsidersfor a minimum duration of 15 days.
Thanks to such efforts, checkpoints Km3+4 Hai Yen, Bac Luanand Ka Long of Mong Cai have been reopened. Customs clearance there have beenrestored, easing the long queues of trucks around border areas.
China has remained Vietnam’s largest importer ofagricultural, forestry and aquatic products for years. The neighbouring countryhas been pursuing a “dynamic Zero-COVID” policy with stricter rules and higherstandards on imports.
In the long run, Vietnam has been urged to come up with moresolutions that are aligned with China’s new policies to boost agricultural product exports to the neighbouring country this year and beyond.
It must also accelerate progress of negotiations onexpanding the list of items entitled to official quota exports and restructureits agriculture sector to develop more farming areas of premium productsmeeting export standards.
Quang Ninh is viewed as a strategic destination in northern Vietnam and an important link in the northern economic growth triangle of Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh.
Over the past years, it has been working to gradually establish itself as a “gateway” for cross-border trade between Vietnam and China, thus contributing to bilateral economic ties.
The province, which shares more than 118km of land border and 191km of sea border with China, is located at the start of the countries’ “Two Corridors, One Belt” economic cooperation zone, in the Nanning - Singapore Economic Corridor, and the expanded Gulf of Tonkin inter-regional cooperation area under the ASEAN - China Free Trade Area.
It has signed 26 provincial-level agreements with Chinese localities. Via these cooperative ties, the province has gradually established itself as “a gateway, a bridge” in the Vietnam - ASEAN - China cooperation, helping to achieve major outcomes in almost all areas, especially cross-border economic and trade partnerships, road transport, border gate opening and upgrade, border management, and the fight against cross-border crimes./.
