Vietnam Incurs US$6.3B Trade Deficit with China in H1: GSO

Vietnam ran a US$6.3 billion trade deficit with China in the first half of this year, making up 93.61% of the Southeast Asian nation’s sum, the General Statistics Office said.

 

The bilateral trade rose to US$11.9 billion in H1, in which, Vietnam’s exports have surged 44% on-year to US$2.8 billion and its imports soared 34% to US$9.1 billion, the GSO said in a statement released July 1.

 

The recent yuan appreciation following pressures from nations incurring huge trade deficit with China will help Vietnamese firms to boost their exports to its neighbor, Tran Dinh Thien, Head of the Vietnam Institute of Economics said.

 

Thien, however, warned that local importers will seriously be affected by the revaluation that makes Chinese goods more expensive because Vietnam can not immediately change its import-export structure in which it mainly buy machinery and equipment, and input materials for producing exports and sell raw materials like crude oil, coal and rubber.

 

Vietnam should adjust its export policies to avoid long-term consequences of exporting raw materials, especially natural resources like coal and crude oil, he recommended.

 

China has remained Vietnam’s largest trading partner for years but the latter has incurred an annual huge trade deficit with the former during the period with the peak of US$11.5 billion in 2009, representing 93.9% of Vietnam’s total.

 

Vietnam and China are trying to raise the bilateral trade to US$25 billion this year from US$21.35 billion in 2009. (GSO)