The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce have signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a Working Group on Vietnam-China Trade Facilitation and the bilateral cooperation plan in the 2021-2025 period.

The MoUs were signed with the aim of realising the outcomes of phone talks between Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and on the occasion of the 13th meeting of the Vietnam-China Steering Committee on Bilateral Cooperation.

Under the MoUs, both sides reached consensus on promoting bilateral trade in a stable, balanced and sustainable manner. The formation of the working group aims to deal with arising issues and barriers in bilateral trade.

The two sides agreed to create optimal conditions for the customs clearance of goods through the Vietnam-China border, and support to businesses of both sides to strengthen their resilience and recover operations during and after COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietnam and China will optimise the railway route between the two countries to promote bilateral trade, especially the transport of farm produce through the border.

The MoUs are important foundations for the effective implementation of bilateral cooperation programmes, helping to remove obstacles in trade between the two nations.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the 2010-2019 period, trade between Vietnam and China expanded 17.6 percent annually on average, higher than the growth in Vietnam’s trade with the rest of the world in the period.

Since COVID-19 broke out in early 2020, the ministry has worked closely with China’s Ministry of Commerce and relevant agencies to deal with difficulties and maintain growth in two-way trade, while creating favourable conditions for customs clearance of goods between the two countries.

Besides, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien held phone talks with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao in April and June, while regularly exchanging official documents as part of efforts to settle arising problems in bilateral trade activities, and maintaining dialogue through the working group on bilateral economic and trade cooperation, with the ninth meeting of the group held online.

These efforts have contributed to maintaining trade exchange between the two sides and operations of supply chains serving production and export, and keeping the Vietnam-China trade growth at two digits./.