China has surpassed the United States to become the largest importer of Vietnamese agricultural products, Vietnam Net reported on July 24. Exports to China in the first six months of 2023 accounted for 21 percent of total exports from Vietnam's agricultural sector.

     China, the United States and Japan remain the top three export markets for Vietnamese agricultural products. In the first half of the year, exports to the United States and Japan fell by 32.9% and 5.3%, accounting for 20.2% and 7.7% of the total agricultural exports, respectively. Exports to China increased by 7.7% and accounted for 21% of the total. According to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam's exports of agricultural, forestry and water products reached $24.59 billion in the first half of the year, down 11.1% from the first half of 2022.

     China is also the only major export market for Vietnamese agricultural products to experience positive growth. In the first half of 2023, China's imports of vegetables and fruits from Vietnam reached nearly 1.77 billion US dollars, up 120.7 percent year-on-year. Vegetables and fruits account for 65.8 percent of Vietnam's agricultural exports to China. The second largest agricultural product was rubber at $778.9 million, followed by wood products at $706.6 million, seafood at $634.4 million, and cassava and cassava products at $522.9 million. However, exports of these products fell in the first half of the year, falling by -13.3%, -25.4%, -23.4% and -23.9%. China remains the largest consumer of Vietnamese seafood, with imports accounting for 17 percent of Vietnam's seafood exports. China also imported rice, coffee and cashews from Vietnam: rice $390.6 million (+ 71.2 percent), cashews $259 million (+ 43.1 percent) and coffee $71.4 million (+ 9.3 percent).

     Experts believe that in the context of high global inflation in 2023, China is likely to become Vietnam's largest export market due to strong demand, good geographical location and low logistics costs. The Chinese market is considered a major factor in helping Vietnam's agricultural sector fulfill its plan to export $54 billion to $55 billion in agricultural products this year. (Article source: Ministry of Commerce)