Vietnamese bird's nests will be officially exported to China.

The leader of the General Administration of Customs of China has signed a protocol on the import of bird's nests and sweet potatoes from Vietnam, the Vietnamese Embassy in China has informed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The embassy said that the protocol is being sent to Vietnam for the Minister of MARD to sign.

Earlier, China announced that it allowed the official import of Vietnam’s durians and the pilot import of Vietnamese passion fruit. The two sides also signed a protocol on quarantine requirements for fresh bananas, creating favourable conditions for Vietnam to export fresh bananas to China in the coming time.

According to MARD Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, China has high demand for bird’s nests, while Vietnam has high potential in the export of the product. Vietnamese bird’s nest quality has been proved, he added.

Requests and negotiations for the official export of the product to China started as early as in 2018.

Currently, Vietnam has more than 22,000 bird nest farming facilities with a total output of about 120 tonnes valuing 450 million USD, accounting for about 3% of the world total output.

Meanwhile, MARD’S Department of Crop Production reported that the country has 98,200 ha under sweet potato with production of over 1.2 million tonnes.

The MARD affirmed that after bird’s nests and sweet potatoes, it will continue to work to bring pomelos and fresh coconuts to the Chinese market.