HCMC – Vietnam has secured official approval from China to export chili, passion fruit, bird’s nest, and rice bran to the Chinese market under new protocols signed on the occasion of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President of China Xi Jinping’s April 14-15 state visit to Vietnam.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the two countries signed four new phytosanitary protocols on April 15, outlining specific quarantine and food safety requirements for each product. This formalized access paves the way for direct exports of both raw and refined bird’s nest, among other high-value agricultural goods.
Three cooperation deals were also reached on environmental and geoscience issues, including a memorandum of understanding with China’s Guangxi region on environmental protection, a joint research plan for managing the Gulf of Tonkin, and a geoscience partnership with the China Geological Survey.
China remains Vietnam’s largest agricultural export market. In 2024 alone, Chinese buyers spent an estimated US$4.6 billion on fruit and vegetable imports from Vietnam. Durian accounted for over US$2.84 billion of that total, followed by dragon fruit at US$320 million, bananas at US$220 million, and jackfruit at US$240 million.
Currently, 14 categories of Vietnamese farm produce are officially exported to China. Of these, six have signed export protocols, including watermelon, mangosteen, black jelly, durian, fresh banana, and sweet potato, while six others – dragon fruit, rambutan, mango, lychee, longan, and jackfruit – are exported without formal agreements.
With the latest additions, Vietnam and China have now signed 24 memoranda and protocols covering agricultural, forestry, and fishery trade.
Vietnam has expanded cooperation with Chinese authorities across a range of fields including meteorology, water resources, geology, minerals, environment, marine and island issues, climate change, and remote sensing.
Most recently, from March 22 to 25, China’s Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying visited Vietnam for talks with Vietnam’s Minister of Agriculture and Environment Do Duc Duy. The two agreed to strengthen coordination in managing water resources along the Mekong–Lancang River, a critical waterway for both nations.
