In the first quarter, many markets experienced a deep decline, but China is still the brightest market, with high expectations for orders in the coming quarters. However, competitive pressure is also great because exporters and traders from many countries also focus on this market after opening.

Commodity competition will be greater than before

Nong Duc Lai, Vietnam's Trade Counselor in Beijing (China), expressed that, since opening, the Chinese economy's growth has come back with advantages and challenges for Vietnamese businesses. Commodity competition will be much greater than before; China strictly controls technical standards, food safety and hygiene.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (Vinafruit), said that in the first three months of 2023, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports reached nearly US$1 billion, up 8% over the same period in 2022. In particular, the export of vegetables and fruits to China increased by 23%. This market currently accounts for nearly 60% of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export turnover. This growth mainly comes from the fact that Vietnam already has protocols with China.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Beijing, for export activities, although recorded a decrease, some groups of traditional Vietnamese goods exported to the Chinese market received positive signals, such as the group of fruits and vegetables. Part of the reason for such impressive fruit and vegetable growth comes from the fact that many high-value products in our exports were opened by China in 2022, such as durian, bird's nest, and sweet potato. Recently, China Customs has also approved an additional 230 codes for Vietnam's durian growing areas and packing facilities, bringing the total to 343 licensed establishments, which is also a great driving force for export growth. Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports to the Chinese market when durian is a fruit with high export value and high competitiveness in the Chinese market with the advantage of crop quality and quality recognized by local consumers.

However, a representative of the Vietnam Trade Office in Beijing said that the market share of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports to China is still quite modest, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export market share to China is still quite modest, accounting for only about 9% of China's total import turnover of vegetables and fruits from the world every year, this shows that our space in the Chinese market is still quite ample. The competition in this product group in China is relatively high.

Bien Tuan Tai, Deputy Director of the Binh Thuan Department of Industry and Trade, also said that more than 90% of Binh Thuan dragon fruits are exported to the Chinese market, mainly through the northern border gates. The export of dragon fruit to the Chinese market is facing increasingly fierce competition, especially when China has been rapidly developing the area of dragon fruit in recent years. To export to China, Binh Thuan is turning to official export. In the coming time, Binh Thuan will continue to promote communication and mobilization of people and enterprises to produce dragon fruits according to the standards of importing countries, focusing on the potential European market, encouraging people and businesses to register growing area codes and packing facilities codes so that consumers can easily trace the origin of products, production processes, and pesticide residues in products.

To Tuong Lan - Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, assessed that seafood exports in March dropped sharply in all markets, in which the Comprehensive Partnership Agreement and The Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) decreased by 23.5%, the US decreased by 55%, the EU decreased by 30%, the Chinese market decreased at least with 11%. The decline was because the world market was still heavily affected by inflation and economic decline, which reduced consumption and import demand and import prices.

Regarding the Chinese market, To Tuong Lan said that in the first quarter of 2023, it decreased by 11%, equivalent to the decrease of the Japanese market but still the brightest market so far. It is forecasted that China will become the largest seafood import market, but the competitive pressure is great because many exporters and traders from many countries also focus on this market after opening.

It is necessary to comply with the regulations on quarantine and food safety strictly

From the reality of the market, Lan said that Vietnam's seafood industry should continue to focus on value-added products. Because at present, some countries have advantages in aquaculture, large output and low price, but the processing level is not high. In the coming time, seafood enterprises want to continue participating in trade programs in markets, especially key markets, to find partners and promote exports.

For businesses to continue to maintain the market as well as expand their export activities to the Chinese market, the Vietnam Trade Office in Beijing said that businesses continue to focus on and improve the quality of goods, implement strict measures on food safety and quarantine, packaging specifications for food, agricultural and aquatic products according to market regulations. As a result, improve the competitiveness of products, improve the quality of product designs by changing the appropriate packaging and attract more Chinese consumers.

In the context that China continues to take steps to tighten management and control of pandemics (avian influenza, African swine fever, monkeypox) and Vietnam has also recorded cases of monkeypox infection, associations need to capture information actively, developments in the world and the risk of domestic spread to promptly warn production enterprises to take measures to avoid infection and promote good food hygiene and safety. Furthermore, it is necessary to actively cooperate with import partners in building and promoting the image of the business and its key products, in addition to mastering and meeting the requirements of quarantine and quality of the Chinese market.

Enterprises that want to expand their market and take advantage of the market space need to prepare and research the market methodically before officially bringing their goods into new market areas in China because each market area in China has different consumption habits, needs and tastes. Specifically, for fruit and vegetable enterprises to study the possibility of investment or investment cooperation with Chinese enterprises in the field of fruit and vegetable processing, on the one hand, to improve the export value content, and on the other hand, to catch up. The market trend of processed fruits and vegetables has continuously increased in recent years.

Source: Customs News