Trade promotion agencies in the northern border province of Lao Cai and the Chinese province of Zhejiang’s Hangzhou city organised an international conference on exports and trade exchange in both virtual and face-to-face forms late last week.

The event attracted 138 enterprises from 15 provinces and cities of Viet Nam and nearly 100 businesses from China’s Zhejiang, Tianjin, Shanghai, Beijing, and Yunnan.

Head of Lao Cai’s centre for industrial promotion and trade promotion Ha Duc Binh said the conference aimed to boost trade exchange and commercial cooperation between the localities, offering chances for Vietnamese suppliers, exporters, and logistics businesses to meet partners from Zhejiang and its neighbouring Chinese provinces. Therefore, export cooperation between Vietnam and Zhejiang would be enhanced, he added.

The conference was told that transportation by air, road and railway between Viet Nam and Zhejiang is very convenient, with goods delivery on time between the two sides ranging from one to two days by road and railway.

According to statistics of the General Department of Customs, two-way trade between Vietnamese provinces and Zhejiang in 2020 exceeded US$8.11 billion.

Zhejiang's major exports to Viet Nam include fabric products, textiles; steel frames; velvet, feather; electrical components; machinery and components for the textile and garment sector; paper and ceramic tiles. Meanwhile, it mainly imports from Viet Nam textiles; iron and steel; rubber; plastic beads; food; clinker; and limestone.

The trade exchange of agricultural products and fruit between the two sides has so far remained modest. — VNS