PM widens ties at Shanghai event

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Party General Secretary, President Xi Jinping visited Vietnam’s booth at CIIE 2018, Photo: VNA

Last week the prime minister met with Zhang Yuliang, chairman of Greenland Holdings, at China’s first International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai. Greenland Holdings reportedly plans to sign a CNY300 million ($43.5 million) purchase order for Vietnamese goods. “Vietnam is a potential market with big co-operation opportunities, especially in agriculture,” Yuliang said, adding that Vietnamese agricultural products and foodstuffs are welcomed in China.

PM Phuc also met with representatives of other Chinese firms who said that they will continue expanding their trade ties with Vietnam and boost investment, especially in finance, insurance, banking, energy, and transport infrastructure.

Vietnam’s Nafoods Group inked a deal with Shanghai Nongfu Fruit Co., Ltd., with the latter committing to distribute 150,000 tonnes of fresh fruit in China.

Last December, China’s Greenland Business Group signed a $500 million deal to import the assorted agricultural products of Vietnam’s Lavifood Company in 2018 and 2019.

Meanwhile, CITIC Group also told PM Phuc that it has 60 per cent stake in McDonald’s China, with 3,500 stores in the country. “These stores will be able to consume Vietnam’s agricultural products throughout China,” said a CITIC representative.

Song Cheng Li, vice chairman of China’s Ping An Trust & Investment Co., Ltd., also said that they want to do business in Vietnam, utilising their significant strengths in finance, insurance, banking, and investment, with total assets of CNY6 trillion ($870 billion).

The firm is now one of the world’s top 500 enterprises and ranks seventh among the leading global financial giants, Li said, adding that they are interested in Vietnam’s mechanisms in protecting foreign financial firms who join the market.

According to Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, all Chinese firms meeting with PM Phuc highly value improvements in Vietnam’s investment and business climate, and they want to expand in many sectors related to high-technology. “The prime minister’s attendance at CIIE 2018 has created an important impetus for the two nations to improve the quality of bilateral co-operation,” he said.

Towards 2020, Vietnam requires about $25 billion annually for infrastructure development, PM Phuc said, noting that this will open promising opportunities for international investors, including those from China. He expected that Chinese businesses will further promote imports of Vietnamese products in the time to come.

During bilateral talks ­between PM Phuc and ­Chinese President Xi Jinping, the latter agreed that China will continue applying sound policies to improve ­Vietnam’s on-going trade deficit with China. President Xi Jinping also agreed that China will gradually create trade balance between the two nations by facilitating the import of more Vietnamese products into China in the time to come.

According to Vietnam’s General Statistics Office, the bilateral trade turnover hit $85 billion in the first 10 months of this year, with Vietnam spending $52.9 billion on imports and earning $32.1 billion from exports. Last year, total trade turnover reached $93.69 billion, up 30.2 per cent on-year.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first 10 months of this year, China became Vietnam’s fifth largest foreign investor, with 296 projects registered at $787.47 billion.

If stake acquisitions and capital expansion at operational projects are taken into account, total Chinese newly-registered capital reached $1.63 billion.