VIETRADE, Chinese city ink MoU to foster economic partnership

Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE) and the Commerce Commission of China’s Chongqing city signed a memorandum of understanding on enhancing economic, trade and investment cooperation at a teleconference on September 16.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai noted that with many advantages for economic, trade, and investment ties, China has continually been the largest and most important trading partner of Vietnam.

Despite impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade still topped 100 billion USD in 2020 and 2021. It surpassed 117 billion USD in the first eight months of 2022, up 10.8% year on year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Realising the potential and important role of the market in China’s western region, including Chongqing - one of the four provincial-level municipalities in the country, with the Chinese Government’s support, the Ministry of Industry and Trade decided to choose this city to set up Vietnam’s first trade promotion office in China in 2014.

Hai cited data from China Customs as showing that trade between Vietnam and Chongqing exceeded 4.5 billion USD in 2019, more than doubling the 2 billion USD in 2018. It continued growing to over 7.3 billion USD in 2020 and 7.93 billion USD in 2021.

Vietnam is also an attractive destination for many Chongqing investors who have invested in over 20 projects in the Southeast Asian nation.

Those outcomes have substantially contributed to economic, trade, and investment links between Vietnam and China, the Deputy Minister said.

On this occasion, apart from the MoU between VIETTRADE and the Commerce Commission of Chongqing, two cooperation agreements were also signed between associations and businesses of Vietnam and the Chinese city./.