By Thi Ha, Anh Minh January 9, 2022 | 05:48 am PT
The Chinese partners of several Vietnamese exporters have asked the latter not to send shipments by sea until a new decision is made.
Sweet
potato producer Nhat Thanh has a contract to export 50 containers of Thai
jackfruit and sweet potatoes every month to China. The company and its Chinese
partner agreed to export 10 containers in advance by sea.
However,
before shipping the goods, they received a notice from the Chinese partner that
the import was suspended due to many unavoidable reasons, Huynh Ngoc Co,
director of the company, told VnExpress.
The
partner said the government of China was tightening import activities starting
from the beginning of 2022. Chinese ports were congested because of the slow
pace of clearance under the country's Covid-19 prevention policies.
"We
are very confused with this sudden decision. Fortunately, the goods had not
been cut and packed, so they were temporarily diverted. They will return to
this market if there is a new announcement from the partner," Co said.
According
to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, export activities by sea to
China has been very slow the past week. Many orders are still on the sea and
have not yet arrived at the port. There a risk of cumulative loss if the port
is congested, the association said.
"The
Chinese side has reported that they can only check about five vegetables and
fruits containers from Vietnam every day due to strict Covid-19 inspection
regulations. Many partners have informed Vietnamese businesses to limit exports
by sea," said Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and
Vegetable Association.
Next
week, when China's seaport staff take an early Lunar New Year break, it will
make customs clearance even more difficult.
Nguyen
said strict quarantine regulations for ship crews caused transshipment
operators at ports in southern China to suspend services for at least six weeks
during the Lunar New Year holiday. He recommended that Vietnam's agricultural
products should limit export shipments during this time.
China has also tightened checks on imported goods and their
transport, leading
to congestion of Vietnamese container trucks at land border gates over the
past month. As of Dec. 4, 2021, as some 2,460 container trucks, with 60 percent
carrying fresh fruits, remained stranded at border gates in Lang Son, according
to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade.
China is
one of Vietnam's top trading partners. The import-export turnover of
agro-forestry-fishery products between the two countries had grown strongly
from $8 billion in 2015 to $11 billion last year.
China was
Vietnam's second-largest export market for agricultural, forestry and fishery
products behind the U.S., posting an export turnover of $8.4 billion in the
first 11 months of the year, accounting for 19.2 percent of Vietnam’s total
agricultural exports.
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